Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Cats and Dogs: Theft

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to bring forward legislation to make cat and dog abduction a specific offence.

Trudy Harrison: We plan to take forward measures from the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill individually through other means during the remainder of this Parliament.

Sea Level

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to assess the impacts of rising sea levels; and what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of rising sea levels.

Trudy Harrison: UK marine and coastal areas are being impacted by climate change, including through sea level rise. These impacts have consequences throughout the UK on livelihoods, ecosystems, communities and society. We are improving our understanding of the impact of climate change and rising sea levels through the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP). MCCIP engages with a wide range of scientific authors to supply policy makers and the public with updates on the current and predicted impacts of climate change. In the UK we are committed to ensuring that climate change adaptation, resilience and mitigation are fully considered and integrated in our policies. Under the Climate Change Act, government committed to laying policies and proposals before parliament to address risks identified by the third Climate Change Risk Assessment. We will do so through the third National Adaptation Programme, published 17 July 2023. As climate change leads to sea level rise and more extreme rainfall, the number of people at risk from flooding and coastal erosion is likely to grow. The Government announced in March 2020 a record £5.2 billion investment over six years in flood and coastal erosion schemes to better protect communities across England. In July 2020, the Government published a long-term Policy Statement, which sets out our ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk.

Recycling

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of trends in household recycling rates.

Rebecca Pow: In England, the 'waste from households' recycling rate increased from 41.9% in 2010/11 to 45.5% in 2019/20.

Borders: Inspections

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to make a final decision in response to the consultation on developing a charging model on recovery of operating costs for government-run border control posts in England under Article 81(b) of the retained Official Control Regulations.

Mark Spencer: A summary of the responses is due to be published in the coming months.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Artificial Intelligence

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) algorithmic and (b) other automated decision making systems her Department uses; and for what purposes.

Mark Spencer: Defra is using algorithms for land use mapping at a national scale which include: A Crop Map of England is produced annually to classify crop cover for England. The system uses algorithms to classify satellite data based on statistical and ground truthing information collected during the growing season. Peatland map: Deep learning algorithms are used to detect moorland grips from aerial photography. The algorithms are applied to provide a ‘live’ map of grips in peatlands in England and insight into peatland restoration work. To some extent automated processes are used to complete transactions. But decisions are still governed by the policy lead, budget holder (or other) approvals. There is no independent, algorithmic logic making choices without human approval. Predictive analytics is only used at aggregate level. Individuals are not profiled.

Countryside Stewardship Scheme and Sustainable Farming Incentive

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much money was returned to farmers as gross cash by (a) the Sustainable Farming Incentive and (b) additional funds allocated by Countryside Stewardship in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022.

Mark Spencer: Defra reports expenditure under agricultural support schemes by financial year rather than calendar year.The Department, as required by section 5 of chapter 1 of the Agriculture Act 2020, prepared an annual report about the financial assistance given during each financial year, starting with financial year 21-22. The first report was laid before Parliament and published on 31 October 2022 Future Farming and Countryside Programme annual report (publishing.service.gov.uk) and contains details of where funds freed up from reductions applied to Direct Payments have been spent. The second report will be published later this year. The reductions enabled the launch of the Sustainable Farming Incentive in June 2022, an increase of Countryside Stewardship payment rates and respond to the demand for the scheme from farmers, and the continued rollout of other schemes to improve prosperity and reward environmental delivery, including, Farming investment Fund, Farming Innovation Programme and Farming in Protected Landscapes.

Horticulture: Water

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to support the horticulture industry in funding (a) tanks and reservoirs and (b) other water retention infrastructure to help (i) provide an alternative to mains water and (ii) water plants grown in peat-free alternatives requiring increased watering.

Mark Spencer: The Government supports the Horticulture Industry with its Water Management Grant, under the Farming Investment Fund which offers grants of between £35,000-£500,000 towards capital items to improve farm productivity through more efficient use of water for irrigation, and to secure water supplies for crop irrigation by constructing on-farm reservoirs and adopting best practice irrigation application. It is open to arable and horticultural businesses growing, or intending to grow, irrigated food crops, ornamentals or forestry nurseries. We have launched two rounds of the scheme at a budget of £10 million each; £7 million of applications have been approved to date. We recognise that many businesses have changed to peat free operations already. For those who are finding the transition difficult we will be exploring what support might be made available as we move to phasing out the use of peat by 2030.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding through the Basic Payment Scheme has reduced in each year since 2020; and by how much she plans to reduce payments in each of the next three years.

Mark Spencer: Defra reports expenditure under agricultural support schemes by financial year rather than calendar year. Applying reductions to Direct Payments frees up money to be spent on financial assistance under our other schemes for farmers and land managers. As set out in our Future Farming and Countryside Programme annual report, published in October 2022, we spent £1.654 billion on Direct Payments in financial year 2021 to 2022. That was part of a total spend of £2.294 billion on existing farming schemes and our new financial assistance schemes, as set out in that report. Information about spend on Direct Payments, and financial assistance under our other schemes, for later financial years will be included in future annual reports. The reductions that we plan to apply to Direct Payments up to, and including, the 2024 scheme year were set out in our Agricultural Transition Plan in November 2020. The Government intends to continue to make gradual reductions in Direct Payments across the rest of the transition until the last year of Direct Payments in 2027.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Mark Spencer: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, while balancing wider ministerial and parliamentary responsibilities.

Fly-tipping: Fines

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with local councils on the adequacy of the level of fines for people who fly-tip.

Rebecca Pow: The Prime Minister’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan sets out how we will support councils to take tougher action against those who fly-tip. This includes raising the upper limit of spot fines for fly-tipping to £1,000, delivering on our manifesto commitment to increase penalties. The regulations to raise the upper limit have been laid and will come into force on 31st July 2023. We are also taking steps to help councils issue more of these penalties. In parallel, Defra is currently undertaking research to consider the effectiveness of the different enforcement options available to local authorities to tackle fly-tipping, including the use of fines. Over 80 local authorities have been engaged through this research.

Department of Health and Social Care

Rare Diseases: Medical Treatments

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to ensure an equitable uptake of new treatments for (a) spinal muscular atrophy and (b) other rare diseases once recommended by NICE.

Will Quince: NHS England has undertaken an assessment of uptake of drugs for patients with spinal muscular atrophy and some other rare diseases. The assessment concluded that uptake equalled or exceeded the estimated number of patients in the original National Institute for Health and Care Excellence assessment and that access was equitable regardless of where patients live.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Diagnosis and Medical Treatments

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of average (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment waiting times on people affected by spinal muscular atrophy.

Will Quince: NHS England has made no specific assessment of the impact of average diagnosis and treatment waiting times on people affected by spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). However, since the 2018 recommendation not to introduce newborn screening for SMA, there have been significant developments in the treatment of SMA, including the approval by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network of several drugs to treat SMA in newborns. Evidence presented to the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) in June provided reasonable grounds for more formal exploration of a United Kingdom newborn screening programme for SMA. The health impacts of time to diagnosis will be considered as part of the UK NSCs modelling work on SMA. The UK NSC are currently in discussions on how best to take this forward.

Babies: Screening

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Muscular Dystrophy entitled Newborn Screening for Rare Conditions, published in May 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations of that report that the UK National Screening Committee should (a) give greater consideration to existing real-world evidence and (b) consider international evidence from countries with similar health systems during its review of new conditions to be included within the NHS newborn screening programme.

Will Quince: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has published its evidence review process, which outlines the type of evidence taken into consideration when making a screening recommendation, and is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process/uk-nsc-evidence-review-processThe UK NSC is clear that screening is introduced where the benefit to screen clearly outweighs the harm, this is underpinned by robust peer-reviewed evidence.The UK NSC considers a wide array of evidence when making recommendations, including published peer-reviewed evidence, public, clinical and academic commentary and real-world evidence undertaken internationally. However, the UK NSC needs to be confident when making screening recommendations that the offer to screen is supported by robust evidence that clearly illustrates that the benefit outweighs the harms.

Babies: Screening

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the APPG for Muscular Dystrophy report entitled Newborn Screening for Rare Conditions, published May 2023, what assessment he has made for the implications for his policies of the recommendation that when conditions previously rejected for newborn screening are reassessed, there should be a clear expedited process that demonstrates how gaps will be filled rather than restarting a review process each time.

Will Quince: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has published its evidence review process, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process/uk-nsc-evidence-review-processAs outlined in the process, an evidence map is commissioned first. This process deliberately builds on previous evidence and does not start again. This evidence map draws on uncertainties identified from the previous review to identify whether there has been any advancement in the evidence base for that topic before a more significant review is commissioned. The final evidence product (a map or a review) draws attention to the gaps in the evidence that mean the UK NSC cannot confidently recommend screening.The UK NSC’s process using an evidence map is similar to a process used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

NHS: Consultants

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidelines on the recruitment of independent consultancies conducting leadership and governance reviews in the NHS.

Will Quince: In September 2017 NHS England published its guidance ‘Getting the most from developmental well-led reviews: Commissioning external suppliers and working with peer reviewers’ to help National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts to get the most out of developmental reviews of leadership and governance, including approaches to procurement. The guidance is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WLF_supplementary_guide_23oct.pdf

Neurology: Health Services

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to support the needs of people with (a) spinal muscular atrophy and (b) other rare neurological conditions as part of its implementation of the Rare Diseases Action Plan.

Will Quince: The UK Rare Diseases Framework and England’s Rare Disease Action Plans are high-level documents containing overarching priorities and underpinning themes for rare disease policy. The documents are focused on improving the lives of all people living with rare conditions, so there are no specific plans to support the needs of people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and other rare neurological conditions in isolation. There are around 7,000 rare conditions, and whilst each is different, people living with rare conditions often face common challenges with the healthcare system and wider services, which the Department seeks to address through the implementation of the England Rare Disease Action Plans.

Training: Equality

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much NHS England spent on training for equality, diversity and inclusivity in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.

Will Quince: The total spend on training for equality, diversity and inclusivity as part of NHS England’s wider organisational development offer for 2021 and 2022 is displayed in the table below. YearTotal spend2021£158,5202022£88,200 These figures are inclusive of VAT.

Agency Nurses: Expenditure

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2023 to Question 182351 on Agency Nurses: Expenditure, what recent estimate he has made of when the expenditure on off-framework NHS agency staff will be validated.

Will Quince: Due to local audit processes which are variable and not within the control of NHS England, we cannot currently confirm the date when off-framework spend for 2022/23 will be finalised and publicly available.

Carers: Government Assistance

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support unpaid carers with increases in the cost of living.

Helen Whately: The Government recognises that the rising cost of living has presented additional financial challenges for many people, including unpaid carers. The Government continues to provide financial support to unpaid carers through Carer’s Allowance, the Carer Element in Universal Credit and through other benefits.Unpaid carers in receipt of eligible benefits may receive additional support through the new Cost of Living Payments in 2023-24. These will help more than eight million United Kingdom households on eligible means tested benefits, eight million pensioner households and six million people across the UK on eligible disability benefits.We want unpaid carers to live healthy and fulfilling lives alongside their caring role. This is why this Government is fully committed to the 10-year vision for Adult Social Care that we re-affirmed in the Next Steps to put People at the Heart of Care (2023).

Hospitals: Construction

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a list of (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful bids for the New Hospitals Programme.

Will Quince: We received 128 expressions of interest (EOIs) for the next eight hospitals to join the New Hospital Programme (NHP) from 100 trusts. A table showing all EOIs is attached.The Government confirmed on 25 May that five of these schemes will join the NHP. These hospitals all have significant amounts of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete and have been independently assessed as unsafe to operate beyond 2030 and were therefore prioritised in the selection process.A list of the schemes which were announced in October 2020 as part of the New Hospital Programme can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-confirms-37-billion-for-40-hospitals-in-biggest-hospital-building-programme-in-a-generationAttachment (docx, 30.7KB)

Integrated Care Boards: Buildings

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will require integrated care boards to review how their estates could be utilised for (a) health and (b) wider public purposes.

Will Quince: All integrated care boards are currently developing integrated care system infrastructure strategies to support improved long-term planning across their estates and assets. Comprehensive system-wide infrastructure strategies will drive more efficient utilisation of the estate and should be developed with local stakeholders. Strategies for all systems will be in place by the end of this year.

Department of Health and Social Care: Buildings

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in the construction of buildings operated under its remit.

Will Quince: Surveys have been conducted to confirm that no Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) is present in the Departmental corporate estate. National Health Service trusts have conducted extensive building survey works to identify the presence of RAAC in their fabric, using technology to record potential issues and visually identify and log potential risks. There are 22 NHS bodies with RAAC plank construction in the whole or a significant part of their estate. We have allocated a total of £685 million for mitigation works in all the affected trusts up to 2024/25. We are allocating funding annually, based on NHS trust plans and delivery progress. In the last financial year, £210 million was allocated to NHS hospital trusts to manage RAAC issues on their estates. We have committed to eradicating RAAC from the publicly owned NHS estate by 2035, protecting patient and staff safety in the interim period, with the NHS approaching this on a ‘risk basis’ and prioritising NHS trusts of concern.

NHS: Consultants

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to assess the value for money of consultancy work in the NHS.

Will Quince: There are spending controls in place that requires consultancy expenditure by National Health Service trusts above £50,000 to be approved by NHS England regional panels.All NHS England consultancy business cases that are above the delegated approval thresholds of £100,000 and/or greater than six months in length are submitted to the Department’s Commercial Assurance team. The team applies the principles of the Cabinet Office consultancy playbook, including a value for money assessment which is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1103954/The_Consultancy_Playbook_Version_1.1_September_2022.pdfIf all tests are met the cases are then referred for Ministerial approval.

Endoscopy: South Tyneside

Kate Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System’s 2022-23 diagnostic funding was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures in South Tyneside.

Will Quince: £2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years to increase diagnostic capacity, including for endoscopy services. This funding will also increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, including a number delivering endoscopy services.In 2022/23, North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System spent a total of £245,092,935 on all diagnostic services. Of this, £1,565,858 (0.64%), was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures in South Tyneside.

UK National Screening Committee: Rare Diseases

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the resources available to the UK National Screening Committee to (a) adequately engage with the rare disease stakeholder community and (b) ensure it takes account of the specific considerations relating to rare diseases.

Will Quince: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has dedicated experienced members of the Secretariat to increased and sustained stakeholder engagement, who have been especially focused on rare diseases. They meet regularly with interested organisations to keep them informed of the ongoing work of the UK NSC. The Departmental screening team also attends the Rare Diseases Framework Delivery group meetings where discussions with stakeholders can address specific issues.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2023 to Question 190812 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, what assessment he has made of (a) the robustness and (b) the implications for his policies of the study's findings in Table 2 on levels of Serious Adverse Events for people vaccinated with the Pfizer mRNA vaccine.

Maria Caulfield: All COVID-19 vaccines deployed in the United Kingdom have been authorised for use following a rigorous review by the independent regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).The MHRA continuously monitors safety during the widespread use of a vaccine. It keeps all available evidence under review, including studies, published literature and data arising from usage in the UK and internationally, including the article referenced. The MHRA communicates safety advice based upon the totality of evidence rather than the strengths and limitations of individual data sources.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Vaccination

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2023 to Question 190694 on Respiratory Syncytial Virus, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the advice on a universal infant RSV immunisation programme from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation, published on 22 June 2023; and whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the budgetary requirements of such a programme.

Maria Caulfield: Policy options based on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice on a potentially expanded infant Respiratory Syncytial Virus vaccination programme are being developed. This process includes the Department engaging with HM Treasury to seek budgetary support for a potential programme.

Electronic Cigarettes: Public Health

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that public health messages on vaping are targeted at adults.

Neil O'Brien: The Government’s public health messaging on vaping is clear, that vapes should only be recommended to support adult smokers quitting. They are not recommended for under-18s or non-smokers.For example, on the Better Health website, we state that: “While vaping can help smokers quit, it is not harmless and is not for young people under 18. It is especially important to protect young lungs and brains.” The full page can be viewed at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/vaping-to-quit-smoking/

Electronic Cigarettes: Health Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to create stop vaping programmes for (a) adults and (b) children and young people.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide additional resources to local public health teams to support stop vaping programmes.

Neil O'Brien: As part of the national Swap to Stop scheme, we will be developing a stop vaping programme to help support adult vapers to be nicotine free. This component of the programme will be commissioned later this year.Local stop smoking services can also provide resources to support children and adult vapers to quit, through funding from the public health grant.We also launched a call for evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of under 18s accessing and using vape products. The call for evidence has now closed, and the government will be considering a range of options based on the evidence provided.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure children and young people with complex mental health needs are cared for in safe and therapeutic environments.

Maria Caulfield: We have conducted a rapid review into mental health inpatient settings, including for children and young people with complex mental health needs, with a specific focus on how we use data and evidence to identify risks to safety and bring about improvements to outcome-based, therapeutic care. The findings were published on 28 June 2023, and the Government will publish a response in due course.We are working with the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch to prepare for the launch of a national investigation into mental health inpatient services in England once the new statutory investigatory body, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), has been established in October. The scope is being refined but is likely to include issues such as how young people with mental health needs can be better cared for, how providers can learn from tragic deaths that take place in their care, how out-of-area placements are handled, and how staffing models can be improved. Across all these themes, the HSSIB will also be looking at how data is used by providers.NHS England has established a three-year Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Inpatient Quality Transformation Programme which seeks to tackle the root causes of unsafe, poor-quality inpatient care in mental health, learning disability and autism settings. The programme is undertaking a review of children and young people’s inpatient services to support development of a new model of inpatient care for specialist services that can support localised treatment in the least restrictive environment but also ensure inpatient care is part of a seamless pathway that delivers quality care.

Members: Correspondence

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Sefton Central of 25 April 2023 and 14 June 2023.

Maria Caulfield: I replied to the hon. Member on 14 June 2023.

Contraceptives: General Practitioners

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to review the (a) effectiveness and (b) timeliness of the funding system accessed by GPs for fitting intrauterine systems; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: There are no plans to review the effectiveness and timeliness of the funding system accessed by general practices (GPs) for fitting intrauterine systems.Integrated care boards may commission GPs to offer long-acting reversible contraception as an enhanced service to their local population, in addition to the contraception service provided through the GP contract.It is for integrated care boards to decide on commissioning arrangements for their area based on an assessment of local need.

Continuing Care: Older People

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to long-term care for older people in (a) Slough constituency, (b) the South East, and (c) England and Wales.

Helen Whately: The Government has made available up to £7.5 billion of additional funding over two years for local authorities in England to support adult social care and discharge, including £1.4 billion through the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF).Specifically, as part of MSIF, in 2023/24 Slough Borough Council will receive £1.2 million, and local authorities in the South East region will receive £78.43 million. Allocations for MSIF in 2024/25, when the fund increases the £845 million, will be released at a later date.As part of the MSIF Capacity Plan exercise all local authorities were asked to assess the anticipated demand for long-term care in their area and their current market capacity to meet this need, and to outline steps they planned to take to address any gaps in capacity for various services.We expect local authorities to use this funding to drive improvements in key areas, including reducing waiting lists for both older people and working age adults. We are also supporting local authorities to better streamline their assessment processes, and are delivering workforce reforms which will improve the sector’s ability to recruit and retain staff in the longer-term, supporting increased capacity and access to care.In addition, the new duty for the Care Quality Commission to assess local authorities’ delivery of their Care Act duties, which went live in April 2023, will help ensure people have access to the consistent high-quality care and support they deserve, irrespective of where they live.

Rare Diseases: Diagnosis and Medical Treatments

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment waiting times for people with rare diseases which present in childhood.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support early (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment for people with (i) spinal muscular atrophy and (ii) other rare, genetic and neuromuscular conditions.

Will Quince: The 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework includes priorities on ‘helping patients get a final diagnosis faster’ and ‘improving access to specialist care, treatment and drugs’. NHS England commissions a national network of specialist services offering an integrated clinical and investigative diagnostic and advisory service for patients with specified forms of rare inherited neuromuscular diseases. The network enables all patients with these disorders to access specialised diagnosis and advice on management and treatment. Genomic testing for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is currently offered in NHS England under the clinical indications R70, R71 and R311. Genomic testing is also available for a number of other rare, genetic neuromuscular conditions, the full list of which can be found in the National Genomic Test Directory. As with many National Health Service services, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an ongoing impact on the genomic testing pathway. NHS England is working to support recovery to reduce reporting times.Evidence presented to the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) in June provided reasonable grounds for more formal exploration of a United Kingdom newborn screening programme for SMA. The health impacts of time to diagnosis will be considered as part of the UK NSC’s work on SMA.NHS England is also developing a proposal for a pilot ‘syndromes without a name’ clinic, the aim of which will be to provide better opportunities for diagnosis and to shorten the time to diagnosis through multidisciplinary review and enhanced access to tests. Additionally, the Genomics England Newborn Genomes Programme has been allocated £105 million of Departmental funding to explore whether whole genome sequencing can diagnose rare diseases earlier and improve outcomes for newborns.

Endoscopy: Kent

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the barriers to reducing endoscopy waiting lists in the NHS Kent and Medway integrated care system.

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of diagnostic funding was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures in the NHS Kent and Medway integrated care system in the 2022-23 financial year.

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the NHS Kent and Medway integrated care system plans to take to increase the delivery of endoscopy procedures in Ashford.

Will Quince: £2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years to increase diagnostic capacity, including for endoscopy services. This funding will also increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, including a number delivering endoscopy services.In 2022/23, Kent and Medway Integrated Care System spent a total of £92,251,788 on all diagnostic services collected on DM01. DM01 includes the 15 key diagnostic tests and procedures. Of this, £51,185,316 (55.5%) was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures.Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for endoscopy services, is one of the Government’s top priorities. This is a shared ambition amongst integrated care systems (ICSs), including Kent and Medway ICS. Priorities are set locally through joint strategic needs assessments as part of joint forward plans across the ICS and partnering NHS trusts.NHS Kent & Medway ICS is actively working with providers across Kent & Medway, including Ashford, to support waiting list reduction through waiting list validation, providing additional capacity and the redesign of patient pathways. This includes endoscopy procedures.The Government has not made a recent assessment of the barriers to reducing endoscopy waiting lists in the NHS Kent and Medway integrated care system. It is the responsibility of individual ICSs to work with NHS England to understand local barriers to delivering the required diagnostics services, including endoscopy, and to implement appropriate waiting list solutions based on local need.

Endoscopy: Thames Valley

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of potential barriers to reducing endoscopy waiting lists in (a) Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System and (b) Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System's diagnostic funding was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures in Buckinghamshire NHS Healthcare Trust in 2022-23.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System plans to take to increase capacity levels for endoscopy procedures for patients in Buckingham constituency.

Will Quince: £2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years to increase diagnostic capacity, including for endoscopy services. This funding will also increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, including a number delivering endoscopy services.In 2022/23, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System (ICS) spent a total of £24,790,510 on all diagnostic services. Of this, £5,179,888 (21%), was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for endoscopy services, is one of the Government’s top priorities. This is a shared ambition amongst ICSs, including Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS. Priorities are set locally through joint strategic needs assessments as part of joint forward plans across the ICS and partnering NHS trusts.In October 2021, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS opened West Berkshire Community Hospital CDC. West Berkshire Community Hospital CDC has since delivered 4,492 additional endoscopy tests closer to people’s homes, supporting earlier access to endoscopy procedures. Additional endoscopy capacity from new CDCs within the ICS will also start to come onstream later this year. This includes North Bedfordshire CDC (Whitehouse Health Centre), which will be located in the Buckingham constituency. Endoscopy services at these CDCs may be offered to the Buckingham population where convenient, to improve their access to diagnostic care.The Government has not made a recent assessment of the barriers to reducing endoscopy waiting lists in the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS. It is the responsibility of individual ICSs to work with NHS England to understand local barriers to delivering the required diagnostics services, including endoscopy, and to implement appropriate waiting list solutions based on local need.

Mental Health Services

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will include the quality of inpatient environments and the range of people’s experiences of inpatient treatment in the forthcoming Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch investigation into mental health inpatient care settings.

Maria Caulfield: The Department continues to work with the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) to refine the scope of the upcoming Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) investigation. Discussions include the following four areas for the investigation: how providers learn from deaths in their care and use that learning to improve their services, including post-discharge; how young people with mental health needs are cared for in inpatient services and how their care could be improved; how out-of-area placements are handled; and how to develop a safe, therapeutic staffing model for all mental health inpatient services. During the course of a HSIB investigation, HSIB investigators work collaboratively with patients, families and teams within the trusts, as well as spending time observing practice in provider organisations. HSSIB will take the same approach to ensure that there is family and patient involvement, including taking into account people’s experiences, and that they continue to be transparent in the investigation to support learning and achieve system level change.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to involve children and young people in decisions regarding their care and treatment when in hospital relating to their mental health.

Maria Caulfield: All children and young people admitted to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Tier 4, both detained and voluntary patients, must have a care and treatment plan produced in collaboration with the young person, which represents their goals, wishes and feelings.For those detained under the Mental Health Act when in hospital, several policies in the draft Mental Health Bill are designed to give greater autonomy to children and young people, where they are well enough and have the capacity and competence to make decisions themselves.These reforms would place greater requirements on clinicians to consult with people close to the patient, such as the parent, in relation to care and treatment decisions and ensure that the patient’s wishes and preferences, beliefs and values are more central to clinical decision making.The reforms would also enable a greater level of support and representation for children and young people, who would be able to choose their own nominated person to support and represent them. The right to an Independent Mental Health Advocate would also be expanded to all mental health inpatients, including voluntary patients, a significant proportion of whom are children and young people.The draft Mental Health Bill has concluded the pre-legislative scrutiny process, and the Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill published its report in January 2023. The Government will respond in due course.

Community Treatment Orders

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of ending the use of community treatment orders.

Maria Caulfield: The Independent Review of the Mental Health Act (2018) noted that whilst there is limited evidence that Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) prevent readmission, they do benefit some individuals, and thus the Review recommended reform rather than abolition. The Government’s proposals, as set out in the draft Mental Health Bill, include reforming CTOs so that they can only be used where there is a strong justification and genuine therapeutic benefit for the patient. The aim of this was to strike a balance between the risks and benefits to patients, whilst mitigating against any potential unintended consequences related to the ending of CTOs. The draft Mental Health Bill has concluded the pre-legislative scrutiny process, and the Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill published its report in January 2023. The Department continues to work through the recommendations, including those on CTOs, in the report. The Government will respond in due course.

Yellow Card Scheme

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the evidential basis is for the statement by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency that there is high public awareness of the Yellow Card scheme in relation to reporting suspected adverse reactions to Covid-19 vaccination.

Maria Caulfield: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has worked with its partners across the health system to ensure that planned COVID-19 vaccination programme communications include information about the Yellow Card scheme. Information about the reporting of side effects via Yellow Card was included on both the information for vaccinees and the UK Health Security Agency materials to support the vaccination programme. These materials were made available as part of the initial call-recall process, as well as at vaccination centres.Additionally, the MHRA optimised website search functionality for the dedicated Coronavirus Yellow Card reporting site and worked with media outlets to encourage them to carry messages about the reporting of side effects. The scheme was also promoted through targeted social media campaigns, the Drug Safety Update and a press release informing healthcare professionals and members of the public that reporting to the new site would enable the MHRA to rapidly identify new and emerging side effects. The general public were also encouraged to report any suspected side effects of the vaccine to the MHRA via a Yellow Card on televised press briefings.The number of reports received through the scheme increased throughout the pandemic for non-COVID-19 medicines and vaccines from both patients and healthcare professionals, demonstrating increased public awareness of the important of reporting side effects. Patients are now the largest reporting group in the scheme, and in 2022 the highest number of reports from members of the public were received by the Yellow Card scheme to date.

Mental Health Services: Children and Parents

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to embed support for patients who are parents and their children into adult mental health services; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to monitor the maintenance of contact between parents admitted to psychiatric in-patient mental health services and their dependent children; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: The community mental health framework sets out the vision for transformation of community mental health services as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. The framework sets the expectation that mental health services should ensure ‘joined-up, ongoing, personalised care and support, and access to the right care at the right time for service users and for their families and carers’.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on inpatient mental health asks systems to ensure that special consideration is given to supporting any dependants under 18 years old and that there is good provision of support for carers, including access to group psychoeducation and support for their wellbeing and wider needs. This may be offered through local carers’ support services, and, where needed, through arranging a carer’s assessment. This is also included in the NHS England guidance ‘Acute inpatient mental health care for adults and older adults’.

Down Syndrome Act 2022

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department will respond to the consultation entitled Down Syndrome Act 2022 guidance: call for evidence which closed on 8 November 2022; and if he will publish (a) the complete set of responses to the call for evidence and (b) a breakdown of respondents by profession.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) clinicians and (b) other professionals responded to his Department's call for evidence on Down Syndrome Act 2022 guidance.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for publishing the (a) Down Syndrome Act 2022 guidance and (b) consultation response to the call for evidence on the Down Syndrome Act 2022 guidance.

Maria Caulfield: We are undertaking analysis of the responses received from the Down Syndrome Act guidance call for evidence to inform the draft guidance and will issue a report after the summer Parliamentary recess. This report will include a detailed breakdown of respondents and information about what capacity individuals or organisations were responding in, and the area they work in, such as healthcare, social care or local Government.The draft Down Syndrome Act guidance will be issued for consultation in due course.

Autism: Children

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce waiting times for autism spectrum disorder assessments for children.

Maria Caulfield: On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services. These documents will help the National Health Service to improve their autism assessment services and improve the experience for children who are referred to an autism assessment service.In addition, each integrated care board is expected to have an Executive Lead, supporting the board in planning to meet the needs of its local population of people with a learning disability and autistic people, including by ensuring appropriate assessment and diagnosis pathways.This year (2023/24), £4.2 million is available to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services and pre- and post-diagnostic support, and the continuation of the ‘Autism in Schools’ programme.

General Practitioners: Postnatal Care

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of GP practices offer women a postnatal assessment six to eight weeks after giving birth.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of GP practices offer the six to eight week postnatal assessment (a) face-to-face and (b) remotely.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not held centrally.Since the general practice contract Regulations were amended in 2020, there has been a contractual requirement for all women to be offered a maternal postnatal consultation, between six and eight weeks postnatally. As defined in the contract, this is a consultation with a general medical practitioner at which the physical and mental health and well-being of the women is reviewed. The consultation should be offered face to face, but where there are practical challenges for the mother in attending, such as having a baby in neonatal care, a virtual check can be carried out so long as appropriate follow-ups are in place.

Health Professions: Training

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training clinicians receive on the needs of families where a parent has mental health difficulties; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: It is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure that their staff are trained and competent to carry out the role for which they are employed, and for making decisions about the ongoing professional training and development requirements of their staff.In addition, regulated healthcare professionals will need to meet the standards of education and training set by their profession’s regulator, all of which include communicating with patients who come to seek their help, including those where a carer may have mental health issues.

Hospices: Children and Young People

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the application process for the Children and Young People hospice grant for 2024-25.

Helen Whately: In June 2023, NHS England confirmed that it would be renewing the Children and Young People hospice grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million of grant funding for children’s hospices. NHS England will confirm details of the funding mechanism in due course.

Hospices: Children and Young People

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will maintain the children and young people's hospice grant after 2024-25.

Helen Whately: NHS England has now confirmed that it will be renewing the grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million of grant funding for children’s hospices. They will also confirm the funding mechanism and individual allocations in due course. Funding arrangements beyond 2024/25 will need to be confirmed by the next Spending Review.

Hospices: Children

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to establish a long-term funding model for children’s hospices.

Helen Whately: In line with requirements set out in the Health and Care Act 2022, commissioning sustainable palliative and end of life care that meets the needs of the local population, including from children’s hospices when appropriate, is the responsibility of integrated care boards.To support integrated care boards with this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance which outlines support for commissioning at a system level, as well as service specifications for children and young people’s palliative and end of life care.

Continuing Care

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that Integrated Care Boards comply with his Department's guidance entitled National framework for NHS continuing healthcare and NHS-funded nursing care.

Helen Whately: The Department is responsible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (NHS CHC) policy, legislation and guidance on the ‘National framework for NHS continuing healthcare and NHS-funded nursing care’. This guidance sets out clear processes for NHS CHC assessment that all integrated care boards (ICBs) must follow, and is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-framework-for-nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-careOperational delivery of NHS CHC is the responsibility of ICBs, with oversight from NHS England. NHS England’s functions include ensuring that local systems operate effectively and holding non-compliant ICBs to account.NHS England has an assurance regime in place to ensure that individuals are assessed for NHS CHC in a timely manner and that these assessments are undertaken at the right time and in the right place. This ensures an accurate assessment, equal access, standardisation, and consistency within NHS CHC.

Hospices: Greater Manchester

Mark Logan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to provide additional funding for Bolton Hospice; and what steps his Department is taking to support hospice services in (a) Bolton and (b) surrounding areas.

Helen Whately: Integrated care boards are responsible for determining the level of National Health Service-funded palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, locally. They are responsible for ensuring that the services they commission meet the needs of their local population. Currently, nine hospice facilities are supported by funding from NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board: Bury Hospice; Dr Kershaw's Hospice; Bolton Hospice; Springhill Hospice; St Ann's Hospice; Tameside and Glossop Hospice Limited (Willow Wood); Wigan and Leigh Hospice; Francis House Family Trust (Children’s); and Derian House (Children’s, located outside the Greater Manchester area). Whilst all of these provide inpatient end of life care, several also offer Hospice at Home and other community palliative care services. The commissioning and funding of these arrangements are a legacy from Clinical Commissioning Groups, however, NHS Greater Manchester, as a statutory organisation, now has the opportunity to review commissioning and funding arrangements to meet the needs of the population, working across our Integrated Care Partnership.

Home Office

Uyghurs

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of reports of intimidation and attempted forced extradition of Uyghur Muslims living in UK.

Tom Tugendhat: We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously. Any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK will not be tolerated.All extradition requests to the UK are subject to the safeguards contained in legislation and the full scrutiny of the UK courts. The UK does not have a bilateral extradition treaty with the People’s Republic of China.

Human Trafficking: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Department of Justice on human trafficking in Northern Ireland.

Miss Sarah Dines: The Home Secretary chairs an Interministerial Group on safety and security with the devolved administrations to consider matters of shared interest. Senior officials from the Northern Ireland Civil Service attend the group in observer capacity in the absence of NI Executive Ministers.Further, the Home Office engages regularly with officials in the Northern Ireland Department of Justice on modern slavery, as well as hosts quarterly meetings on modern slavery between senior Home Office officials and representatives of the devolved administrations.

Asylum: Portland Port

Chris Loder: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the safety risk assessments for the berthing in Portland Port of the Bibby Stockholm.

Robert Jenrick: No individuals will be placed on the vessel unless it is safe to do so and all the legal and regulatory requirements are met.The vessel will be managed by our supplier, under contractual terms agreed with the Home Office. The same supplier has safely and successfully managed two vessels for Ukrainian refugees for the Scottish Government over the past year.The supplier and partners including Dorset Council, Dorset Police, Dorset Fire & Rescue and the Health & Safety Executive will ensure that the appropriate risk assessments have been completed and approved to ensure that the accommodation is safe to occupy prior to the first cohort of asylum seekers arriving.

Anti-social Behaviour: Ipswich

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help local authorities in Ipswich to reduce anti-social behaviour in the town centre.

Chris Philp: On 27 March, the Government launched the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-action-plan) ensuring the police, local authorities and other relevant agencies have the tools they need to tackle anti-social behaviour. The plan is backed by £160m of funding. This includes up to £60m to fund an increased police and other uniformed presence to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, targeting hotspots. Initially we will work with 10 police force areas, but from 2024 we will support a hotspot approach across every police force area in England and Wales. We are also providing up to £50m to support the provision of Immediate Justice, by issuing out of court disposals with conditions to swiftly repair any damage – the aim being for them to start within 48 hours of referral. This will start in 10 initial trailblazer police force areas and be rolled out nationally in 2024.On 6 July, we launched a further fifth round of the Safer Streets Fund, which will support local initiatives aimed at increasing the safety of public spaces, including town centres, by tackling neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls. Since the fund launched in 2020, we have invested £120 million through four rounds supporting 270 projects across England and Wales, with a range of interventions including CCTV cameras.The Crime Survey for England and Wales indicates that in the year to December 2022, overall crime (excluding fraud and computer misuse) was 52% lower than in the year to March 2010.

Shoplifting

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of levels of theft from shops (a) nationally and (b) in Suffolk.

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of theft from shops in Suffolk.

Chris Philp: The Home Office works closely with retailers and trade associations such as the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), and police partners via the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to understand the crime trends retailers are experiencing and to work together to tackle these issues.The NRCSG has produced practical resources to provide guidance on partnership working and encourage engagement with Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs) to help ensure businesses and police can work effectively together to identify the trends and types of crimes that affect businesses and to ensure incidents are dealt with appropriately at a local level.In addition, the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) co-ordinates Safer Action Business Days (SABA), where police, BCRPs and retailers work in partnership to carry out days of action to prevent crime against businesses, including shoplifting.The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of shoplifting offences reported to and recorded by the police in England and Wales, on a quarterly basis. These are available at Police Force Area and can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables The table below shows the police recorded crime figures for Suffolk Number of shoplifting offences recorded by the police in England and Wales (excluding Devon and Cornwall)YearSuffolkEngland & Wales*2015/163,707330,6222016/173,751363,3492017/184,145374,6462018/194,171367,7252019/204,155353,0532020/212,174224,3432021/222,582270,410YE Dec 212,396251,774YE Dec 223,114309,511 Many shoplifting offences are not reported to the police. The 2021 Commercial Victimisation Survey, which provides estimates of crime against the Wholesale and Retail sector in England and Wales, showed that 25% of premises were victims of theft by customers in the 12 months prior to taking part in the survey. Of those victims, 39% said they experienced customer theft once a week or more.

Demonstrations: Roads

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing (a) fines and (b) prison terms for people who participate in protests that (i) stop the free flow of traffic and (ii) block emergency vehicles.

Chris Philp: It is unacceptable that protests should disrupt our incredible emergency services or hard-working people going about their daily business.The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 is already in force. This raised the maximum penalty for wilful obstruction of the highway to 6 months’ imprisonment, a level 3 fine on the standard scale, or both.The Public Order Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on 2 May, has also introduced new measures to improve the police’s ability to respond to highly disruptive protests. This includes the offence of interference with key national infrastructure and locking-on, which carry a maximum penalty of 12 months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both and six months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both, respectively.In addition, Parliament has approved a Statutory Instrument providing greater clarity to law enforcement on when conditions can be imposed on protest causing serious disruption. Since that was enacted, we have seen a swifter response to slow walks in London.We will continue to work closely with the police going forwards to make sure they are able to make full use of these powers.

Abortion: Demonstrations

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when safe access zones around facilities providing abortion care under the Public Order Act 2023 will be initiated in England and Wales.

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing support to local councils managing protestors outside facilities providing abortion care until the implementation of safe access zones.

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department's implementation plans for safe access zones provided for in the Public Order Act 2023 will be published by 27 September 2023.

Chris Philp: It is completely unacceptable that anyone should feel harassed or intimidated when trying to access, provide or facilitate abortion services.The Police and Local Authorities already have powers to restrict harmful protests and prevent antisocial behaviour.The Public Order Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 2 May. The timescales for commencing the new Section 9 offence of interference with access to, or provision of, abortion services will be confirmed in due course.

Police: Dismissal

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the review into the process of police officer dismissals.

Chris Philp: Officers who fall seriously short of the standards expected have no place in our police, and we must ensure they can be dismissed as swiftly as possible.The Government established a review to consider the effectiveness of the disciplinary system at removing officers who fall far short of the high standards expected of them. Ministers are considering the findings of the review carefully and will make announcements on next steps as soon as practicable.

Anti-social Behaviour

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to tackle antisocial behaviour by large groups of people.

Chris Philp: On 27 March, the Government launched the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-action-plan) which sets out a new framework for the Government, police forces, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), local authorities and other partners – such as housing associations and youth offending teams – to work together to prevent and tackle anti-social behaviour.This plan is backed by £160m of funding. This includes up to £60m to fund an increased police and other uniformed presence to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, targeting hotspots. We are working with 10 police force areas who have started their patrols in July 2023 and from 2024 we will support a hotspot approach across every police force area in England and Wales, which will see thousands of additional patrols taking place in places blighted by anti-social behaviour.In addition, we are providing up to £50m to establish new Immediate Justice pathways aimed at delivering swift, visible punishment for anti-social behaviour. This has started in 10 initial trailblazer police force areas in July 2023 and will be rolled out across England and Wales in 2024.On 6 July, we launched a further fifth round of the Safer Streets Fund, which will support local initiatives aimed at increasing the safety of public spaces, including town centres, by tackling neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls. Since the fund launched in 2020, we have invested £120 million through four rounds supporting 270 projects across England and Wales, with a range of interventions including CCTV cameras.The Crime Survey for England and Wales indicates that in the year to December 2022, overall crime (excluding fraud and computer misuse) was 52% lower than in the year to March 2010.

Police Custody: Children

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2023 to Question 193747 on Police Custody: Children, if she will publish her Department's response to the report by the Nuffield Foundation.

Chris Philp: The Home Office is carefully considering the report by the Nuffield Foundation and awaits the results of the forthcoming pilot. We will respond to the report in due course.

British Nationality: Children

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fee waiver applications for children applying for British citizenship were for children in care between June (a) 2021-2022 and (b) 2022-2023.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office monitors the number of fee waiver applications for children registering for British citizenship. However, management information in this area is currently being collated, reviewed and assured, and we are therefore not in a position to share figures at this time. We are however considering the best mechanism for updating Parliament with this information when available and will do so at the earliest appropriate opportunity.Prior to 16 June 2022, an application to register as a British citizen as a child, required the appropriate application fee to be paid and there was no discretion to waive the citizenship application fee.

British Nationality: Children

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the number of fee waiver applications for children registering for British citizenship since June 2022, broken down by quarter.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office monitors the number of fee waiver applications for children registering for British citizenship. However, management information in this area is currently being collated, reviewed and assured, and we are therefore not in a position to share figures at this time. We are however considering the best mechanism for updating Parliament with this information when available and will do so at the earliest appropriate opportunity.Prior to 16 June 2022, an application to register as a British citizen as a child, required the appropriate application fee to be paid and there was no discretion to waive the citizenship application fee.

Asylum: Finance

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to publish the next review of the asylum-support allowance.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office annually reviews the level of the asylum support rate to assess the correct level of financial support that should be provided to meet essential living needs.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Private Rented Housing: Standards

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making changes to Section 30 of the Housing Act to give tenants more flexibility to leave tenancies in the case of poor living standards.

Rachel Maclean: Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions cause tenants to feel insecure, unable to plan for the future or call where they live a home. Removing them is vital to improving tenant security - protecting their ability to stay in their homes, avoiding unwanted and expensive house moves, and enabling them to put down roots in their local communities. With the threat of retaliatory section 21 evictions removed, tenants will be better able to challenge landlords who provide unsafe housing.Enabling tenants to leave poor quality properties is also a key part of delivering a fairer system for renters. The Renters (Reform) Bill will also abolish fixed terms and move to periodic tenancies, allowing renters to end tenancies at any point by giving a maximum of two months' notice. This will protect tenants from the injustice of being forced to pay for unsafe or non-decent homes.Introducing a mechanism for tenants to end fixed terms, for instance where a property standards improvement notice is not complied with, could mean tenants are locked into paying the rent whilst a third party adjudicates. It would also hinder their ability to respond to other important changes in their circumstances, such as changing jobs or schools.

Members: Correspondence

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Sefton Central of 12 May 2023 and 28 June 2023 on National Development Management Policies.

Rachel Maclean: I apologise for the delay in responding to the Hon Member's correspondence. A response was issued on 19 July 2023.

Affordable Housing: Key Workers

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing for key workers in areas of relatively high housing costs including the city of York.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the relationship between the availability of affordable housing and shortages of key workers.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to prioritise the construction of key worker accommodation in the planning system.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will take steps to help support the development of hospital staff key worker accommodation on NHS Property Services land.

Rachel Maclean: The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that local authorities should assess the housing need of different groups in their communities, and support delivery of affordable housing to help meet those needs. Government is on target to build around 250,000 affordable homes through the Affordable Homes Programme 2016-23, with around 244,000 new housing starts by March 2023, and a further 5,000 homes granted an extension to start before March 2024. The Affordable Homes Programme will deliver a large number of social rented homes.Our First Homes scheme will provide homes for first-time buyers at a minimum 30% discount. First Homes must be prioritised for first-time buyers (defined in paragraph 6, schedule 6ZA of the Finance Act 2003) and not sold to any household with a combined annual income over £80,000 (£90,000 in Greater London). Local and Neighbourhood Plans will be able to apply additional criteria.I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 192375 on 12 July 2023.

Planning: Agriculture

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) peri-urban and (b) high-quality rural land used for food growing is protected within the planning system.

Rachel Maclean: We place great importance upon our agriculture and food production, and this is reflected in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework already requires local planning authorities to take into account all the benefits of the best and most versatile agricultural land. Where significant development of agricultural land is shown to be necessary, then we have been clear that planning authorities should seek to use poorer quality land in preference to that of a higher quality.Our recent consultation on a revised National Planning Policy Framework proposes a change to strengthen current policy on the consideration given to the relative value of agricultural land for food production. The consultation sought views on how we can ensure high value farmland is adequately weighted in the planning application process.Following the May UK Farm to Fork Summit we announced our proposals to support the agricultural industry to boost production and extend the growing season by revising national planning policy and making the approval of new controlled environment horticulture businesses a priority for councils to make it easier to build new glasshouses.

Almshouses: Finance

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling alms houses to access section 106 funding in the same way as housing associations.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to bring forward proposals on the regulation of almshouses.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to include almshouses in the National Planning Policy Framework definition of affordable housing.

Rachel Maclean: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 185863 on 30 May 2023.Almshouses play a valuable role in providing homes for communities across the country. Registration with the Regulator of Social Housing is voluntary for almshouses, and a number of almshouses do choose to register. Where almshouses are registered with the Regulator, they are required to meet the Regulator's economic and consumer standards.Affordable housing contributions in Section 106 agreements are negotiated between local planning authorities and developers.

Housing: Food

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has held with local planning authorities on ensuring that developers build homes that have enough (a) internal space for families to (i) store, (ii) prepare, (iii) cook and (iv) eat healthy food and (b) external space to grow fruit and vegetables.

Rachel Maclean: The Government is committed to ensuring that the planning system creates sustainable, healthy places with high-quality homes.Local councils have the option to implement the Nationally Described Space Standard to set minimum space standards in their local area where this can be justified, as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).The National Design Guide, which supports the NPPF, sets out the ten characteristics of well-designed places and recognises that well-designed homes provide internal and external space that support the health and wellbeing of residents.In addition, the National Model Design Code, which guides local councils in the production of local design codes, emphasises the need for new development to provide high-quality internal and external living spaces that meet a range of needs. This includes sufficient space for the storage and preparation of healthy food as well as opportunities for food growing.

Water Authorities and Water Companies: Planning

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made to the potential merits of making water (a) companies and (b) authorities statutory consultees in the planning process.

Rachel Maclean: Whilst we generally resist adding new statutory consultees to the planning application process, the Government has made a commitment, as part of its reform package under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, to consult on whether or not we should make water companies statutory consultees on certain planning applications, and if so, how best to do this.

Urban Areas: Weather

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help urban areas adapt to (a) warmer summers and (b) flooding.

Rachel Maclean: The Government has made clear in the National Planning Policy Framework that local planning authorities plans should take a proactive approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change, taking into account the long-term implications including for flood risk and the risk of overheating.

Help to Buy Scheme

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has had recent discussions with Lenvi on response times to Help to Buy Equity Loan customer enquiries.

Rachel Maclean: The department receives daily updates and regularly monitors the service recovery plan. A number of actions are being taken to improve the service, call centre opening times have been extended and Lenvi have increased staffing levels and are continuing to recruit and redeploy staff.

Private Rented Housing: Reform

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions his Department has had with landlords on the Renters (Reform) Bill.

Rachel Maclean: The Department has carried out extensive engagement with landlords and letting agents throughout the development of the White Paper, 'A Fairer Private Rented Sector', and the Renters (Reform) Bill.Details of ministerial meetings are published on gov.uk.

Renters (Reform) Bill

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Renters (Reform) Bill on (a) the number of landlords in the private rented sector and (b) levels of rents.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the abolition of fixed term contracts on the private rented sector.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of ending fixed-term rental contracts on (a) the number of houses available to rent and (b) trends in the level of rental costs.

Rachel Maclean: The green-rated Impact Assessment for the Renters (Reform) Bill provides analysis of the impacts of reforms, including analysis on supply and rents.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Rachel Maclean: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Social Cohesion and Resilience Independent Review

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of when the Independent Review of Social Cohesion and Resilience will be published.

Rachel Maclean: Announcements will be made in the usual way.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead of 20 April 2023, 13 May and 28 June 2023, reference MP79450.

Rachel Maclean: A response was issued to my Rt. Hon. Friend on 4 May. A copy of the response has been resent.

Department for Education

Schools: Finance

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the announcement on 13 July 2023 that schoolteachers will receive a 6.5 per cent pay increase from September 2023, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on educational (a) provision and (b) outcomes of 3.5 percentage points of that pay increase being allocated from school budgets.

Nick Gibb: In November last year at the Autumn Statement, the Department announced an additional £2 billion in each of the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, over and above totals announced at the 2021 Spending Review.On 13 July 2023, the Department announced an additional £525 million this year, to support schools with the teachers’ pay award, and a further £900 million in the 2024/25 financial year.It means overall school funding is rising by over £3.9 billion this year alone, compared to the 2022/23 financial year, on top of a £4 billion cash increase last year. Combined, that represents a 16% increase in just two years. School funding in 2024/25 will be more than £59.6 billion, the highest ever level in real terms per pupil.This additional funding will enable head teachers to continue to invest in the areas that positively impact educational attainment, including high quality teaching and targeted support to the pupils who need it most, as well as helping schools to manage higher costs, including teacher pay awards.Each year the Department publishes an assessment of schools’ costs and funding, which informs what pay award the Department judges to be affordable for schools from within this existing funding. In March 2023, the Department set out its calculation that schools, on average, could afford a pay award of 4% from within existing funding.The Department decided to fund the 2023 pay award from a lower affordability figure than the 4% calculation, funding the costs of the pay award above 3.5%, on average, rather than above the 4% national affordability calculation. This is a more generous funding offer than back in March 2023, and all four unions have confirmed that this ensures the pay award is properly funded.The Department is also providing a further up to £40 million in addition to the £525 million in the 2023/24 financial year, to support individual schools which find themselves in particular financial difficulties. This is to be allocated on a case by case basis.Although the Department will have to make difficult decisions, the Secretary of State has been clear all frontline services will be protected. Funding for Early Years, SEND, School Conditions and Core School and College Budgets are fully protected. To help fund the pay award, the Secretary of State has also secured exceptional permission from the Treasury to keep money where there have been or will be underspends, which in normal years would have to be returned to Treasury.

Department for Education: Artificial Intelligence

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) algorithmic and (b) other automated decision making systems her Department uses; and for what purposes.

Nick Gibb: Information relating to use of algorithmic and other automated decision making systems to make automated decisions is not centrally held within the Department.The Department uses elements of Automation, Robotics and Machine Learning, although much of the work remains experimental. Most automation that has been developed is for internal use and is aimed at improving the Department’s operational processes and not to aid implementation of policies. Neither the Department’s robotics/automation nor machine learning work are used in isolation to make decisions and do not drive decisions or actions directly or in an automated fashion.The Department’s automation and robotics work includes using business rules to assign correspondence to team queues and text readers to help read and analyse reports. It also includes automation of data flows and validation processes, robots to develop and publish management information reports and analytical insight tools, and chatbots. Guidance for public sector organisations on how to use automated or algorithmic decision making systems in a safe, sustainable and ethical way can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ethics-transparency-and-accountability-framework-for-automated-decision-making.

Schools: Admissions

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available to schools with falling pupil numbers.

Nick Gibb: The Department has now published the National Funding Formula for schools and high needs 2024/25, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-for-schools-and-high-needs.The overall core schools budget will be over £59.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, the highest ever level in real terms per pupil in 2024/25, as measured by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies.To support Local Authorities to meet their sufficiency duty, the Department provides them with revenue funding for growth and falling rolls through their Dedicated Schools Grant. The Department has allocated £259 million in Growth and Falling Rolls funding to Local Authorities in 2023/24.Local Authorities currently have discretion on whether to operate a falling rolls fund. Any decisions regarding the criteria for, and level of, falling rolls funding which is allocated by the Local Authority must be approved by the Schools Forum.The Department is introducing new requirements for growth and falling rolls funding in 2024/25 which will provide Local Authorities with more flexibility to support schools seeing significant declines in pupil numbers, where these places will still be needed within the next three to five years. More information on the changes to growth and falling rolls funding can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-for-schools-and-high-needs.

Ofsted

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of the level of complaints about Ofsted's inspection processes.

Nick Gibb: The Department is committed to the regular, independent inspection of all state funded schools by Ofsted as part of its broader strategy for accountability and school improvement. 88% of schools in England are judged by Ofsted to be ‘good’ or better, which is up from 68% in 2010.Ofsted received 218 complaints following a school inspection in 2022/23, which is approximately 3% of inspections carried out during the period. The Department understands that, of these, most were concerned about the inspection grade awarded and concerns about the conduct of the inspection.Ofsted is currently consulting on proposals for a strengthened complaints process, and the Department urges educators to take the opportunity to share their views. The consultation can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-ofsteds-post-inspection-arrangements-and-complaints-handling-proposals-2023.The Department recognises the significant public focus on inspection that has arisen following the tragic death of Ruth Perry and that this broader debate has focused attention on important issues such as how safeguarding is inspected and how headteachers are supported. It is right that the accountability system, including inspection, develops and evolves and that the system is responsive where concerns arise.On 12 June, Ofsted announced a series of changes designed to improve the inspection arrangements. The details of this are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-made-to-school-inspections. Alongside this, the Department announced a doubling of its mental health and wellbeing support package for this year, to ensure school leaders can access expert supervision and counselling.

School Day

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of schools that deliver a school week of less than 32.5 hours.

Nick Gibb: The Department’s review of time in schools found that the average mainstream school day is 6 hours and 30 minutes, which equates to a 32.5 hour week. This data draws on the COVID-19 school snapshot panel findings from a survey conducted in July 2021.The review can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-time-in-school-and-16-to-19-settings.

Basic Skills: Portsmouth South

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to improve children's oracy skills in Portsmouth South constituency.

Nick Gibb: Spoken language is a key part of the knowledge rich curriculum and is taught from early years to GCSE level. The Department recognises the importance of spoken language which is already part of the English National Curriculum. The GCSE English Language qualification ensures that pupils are able to listen to and understand spoken language and use spoken standard English effectively.The Department is also providing up to £17 million of funding for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention to improve the language skills of reception age pupils who need it most following the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the Department has secured over £28 million to support the speech and language of three and four year olds. This will be delivered through the new family hubs network.On 11 July 2023, the Department published the updated Reading Framework which outlines how vitally important talking is to reading and how teachers can support all pupils to express their ideas confidently. The £60 million English Hubs Programme, launched in 2018, is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the English Hubs Programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousand schools.Portsmouth’s local English Hub, Springhill English Hub, is working hard to engage and support primary schools across Portsmouth to improve the teaching of phonics, including offering showcase events especially for Portsmouth schools. The Hub has supported four schools in the city, with another six expected to become partner schools in September 2023.

Multi-academy Trusts: Finance

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding was allocated to multi-academy trusts through the National Funding Formula in the 2022-23 academic year

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding was allocated to local authorities through the National Funding Formula in the 2022-23 academic year.

Nick Gibb: The Government is committed to providing a world class education system for all pupils and has provided significant funding to achieve that.The National Funding Formula (NFF) allocates funding to Local Authorities on a financial year basis. Through the 2022/23 schools NFF, Local Authorities were notionally allocated £40.1 billion in funding. This included funding for both academies and maintained mainstream schools. Out of this £40.1 billion, £22.8 billion was allocated by reference to academies. In making allocations, the NFF does not distinguish between academies and maintained schools, and the proportion of the total funding allocated by reference to academies was therefore determined by the number and characteristics of the pupils who attend academies.Alongside the schools NFF, Local Authorities were also allocated £9 billion for high needs. Local Authorities use their high needs funding to provide the costs of special schools, both academy and maintained special schools, and the costs of special educational needs top up funding to mainstream schools, both academy and maintained.

Mathematics: Education

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the academic achievements of schools teaching (a) Singapore maths and (b) other forms of maths teaching.

Nick Gibb: The Department draws on a range of published data about the effectiveness of teaching approaches, including from Ofsted, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). Mastery based pedagogy in mathematics promoted by the Department is informed by approaches in Singapore and Shanghai, jurisdictions that perform highly in international tests.A randomised controlled trial funded by the Department’s Centres for Excellence in Maths Programme, which provided mastery teaching support for GCSE resits, found that students on the full intervention made one month of additional progress in attainment compared with students in other business as usual colleges. Students from a disadvantaged background benefitted the most, the research showed they made two months of additional progress.Combined analysis of an EEF study of ARK Multi Academy Trust’s Mathematics Mastery programme at primary and secondary also showed an average improvement equivalent to one month’s additional progress over a year of teaching.The latest Key Stage 2 results from 2023 showed that 73% of pupils met the expected standard in mathematics, which is up from 71% in 2022. The results from the latest Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) and Programme for International Assessment (PISA) international comparison studies showed that England performs above the international average for mathematics. Before the pandemic, England achieved its highest ever mathematics scores in the 2019 TIMSS international test for year 5 pupils and the 2018 PISA study for 15 year olds.Ofsted’s latest mathematics subject report highlights how Maths Hubs, which are increasing the numbers of schools that are focusing on mastery pedagogy to 65% of secondary and 75% of primary schools by 2025, have contributed to notable improvements in the quality of mathematics education since 2012. Ofsted’s latest mathematics subject report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/subject-report-series-maths/coordinating-mathematical-success-the-mathematics-subject-report.

Non-teaching Staff: Pay

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether (a) ancillary staff and (b) teaching assistants will receive the same level of pay increase as has been awarded to teachers from September 2023.

Nick Gibb: Schools have the autonomy to make their own decisions about budgets. For most staff, including Teaching Assistants (TAs), schools have the ability to recruit according to their own circumstances and set pay and conditions. Many schools pay TAs according to Local Government pay scales. These are set through negotiations between the Local Government Association, which represents the employer, and Local Government trade unions (UNISON, Unite, and the GMB), which represent the employee. Central Government does not have any formal role in these matters. Local Government employees covered by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services pay and conditions, including most school support staff, have been offered a flat cash uplift of £1,925 from 1 April 2023. This is the same cash uplift as was agreed for the 2022/23 pay deal, which equated to 10.5% at the bottom of the pay range, to 4% at the top. The 2023/24 offer is currently under negotiation.

Teachers: Conditions of Employment

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with headteachers of secondary schools on the level of workloads for teachers in those schools; and whether she is taking steps to improve working conditions for secondary school teachers.

Nick Gibb: The Department is committed to working with head teachers and teachers to reduce unnecessary workload and minimise burdens on schools. Part of this commitment is the development of the School Workload Reduction Toolkit which provides practical resources to help reduce workload.The Department has also conducted numerous research projects with head teachers and teachers to understand what works to reduce workload. The Department regularly surveys and engages directly with the profession to explore a range of policy measures, including working hours.In addition, the Secretary of State recently announced that the Department will convene a Workload Reduction Taskforce. The group will be made up of experts, teaching unions and head teachers to explore how the Department can go further to support teachers and head teachers to minimise workload for teachers.

Cabinet Office

Domestic Visits: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many visits he has made to Wales since his appointment.

Jeremy Quin: I attended a Civil Service Live event at Cardiff’s City Hall on Thursday 13 July 2023, marking my first official trip to Wales since being appointed. I look forward to visiting Wales again in the future.

Wales Office

Domestic Visits: Ceredigion

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Ceredigion constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Ceredigion. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 203,000 payments delivered in Ceredigion through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 9,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £34 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £68 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loansThe UK Government has also supported innovation within Ceredigion with around £1.3 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Ceredigion has also received around £73,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Ceredigion County Council, the local authority for the Ceredigion constituency, is receiving almost £15 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Ceredigion is also receiving over £10 million from the Levelling Up Fund for the Aberystwyth Seafront. This is in addition to the almost £460,000 awarded to the Aberporth Village Hall and Recreation Ground and the Aberystwyth and District Hospice at Home Volunteers through the Community Ownership Fund. Ceredigion will also benefit from the £110 million Mid Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 230,000 payments delivered in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 12,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £33 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £90 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire with around £36.6 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire will also benefit from the Celtic Freeport, backed by £26 million from UK Government. The Celtic Freeport aims to attract significant inward investment including £3.5 billion in green energy as well as the creation of 16,000 jobs, generating £900 million in Gross Value Added by 2030.In addition, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, the local authorities for the Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire constituency, are receiving over £38 million and over £23 million respectively, from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Carmarthenshire is also receiving over £36 million from the Levelling Up Fund to deliver the Tywi Valley active travel path, and new public service Hubs in Carmarthen and Pembroke. The constituency also benefits from the £235 million Swansea Bay City Deal, including £28 million invested in the Pembroke Dock Marine project.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Carmarthen East and Dinefwr

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Carmarthen East and Dinefwr. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 198,000 payments delivered in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 10,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £31 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £62 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Carmarthen East and Dinefwr with over £1.1 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Carmarthen East and Dinefwr has also received around £24,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Carmarthenshire, the local authority for the Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency, is receiving over £38 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Carmarthenshire is also receiving over £36 million from the Levelling Up Fund to deliver the Tywi Valley active travel path, and new public service Hubs in Carmarthen and Pembroke. The constituency also benefits from the £235 million Swansea Bay City Deal, including the £10 million region-wide skills and talent programme.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Cardiff West

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Cardiff West constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Cardiff West. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 257,000 payments delivered in Cardiff West through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 15,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £32 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £59 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans. The UK Government has also supported innovation within Cardiff West with around £2.7 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019.In addition, Cardiff City Council, the local authority for the Cardiff West constituency, is receiving over £41 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Cardiff West also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including the £50 million region-wide Innovation Investment Fund.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Cardiff South and Penarth

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Cardiff South and Penarth constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Cardiff South and Penarth. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 303,000 payments delivered in Cardiff South and Penarth through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 19,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £37 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £127 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Cardiff South and Penarth with around £22 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Cardiff South and Penarth has also received around £185,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities. Cardiff South and Penarth will also benefit from UK Government funding to refurbish public tennis courts across the UK.In addition, Cardiff City Council, the local authority for the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency, is receiving over £41 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Cardiff is also receiving £50 million from the Levelling Up Fund for Cardiff Crossrail which will deliver a new rail line between Cardiff Bay and Cardiff Central Station. The constituency also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including an investment of £40 million in the Metro Central project.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Pontypridd

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister in his Department last made an official visit to Pontypridd constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Pontypridd. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 216,000 payments delivered in Pontypridd through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 13,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £29 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £62 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans. The UK Government has also supported innovation within Pontypridd with over £4.3 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019.In addition, Rhondda Cynon Taf, the local authority for the Pontypridd constituency, is receiving over £45 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Rhondda Cynon Taf is also receiving over £16 million from the Levelling Up Fund for transport improvements and for refurbishment of the Muni Arts Centre in Pontypridd. The constituency also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including the £31 million region-wide housing viability gap fund.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Ogmore

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister in his Department last made an official visit to Ogmore constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Ogmore. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 207,000 payments delivered in Ogmore through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 12,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £22 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £41 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loansThe UK Government has also supported innovation within Ogmore with over £2.4 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Ogmore has also received over £4,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Bridgend, the local authority for the Ogmore constituency, is receiving over £23 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The constituency also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including the £50 million region-wide sites and premises fund.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Newport West

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister in his Department last made an official visit to Newport West constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Newport West. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 240,000 payments delivered in Newport West through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 13,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £24 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £68 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Newport West with over £10.5 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Newport West will also benefit from UK Government funding to refurbish public tennis courts across the UK.Our Semiconductor Strategy targets UK strengths, including compound semiconductors. As the home of the world's first compound semiconductor cluster, South East Wales, including Newport West, is well placed to benefit from the Semiconductor strategy and the funding announced.In addition, Newport City Council, the local authority for the Newport West constituency, is receiving over £32 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Newport West also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including almost £38 million invested in the semi-conductor cluster.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Newport East

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister in his Department last made an official visit to Newport East constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Newport East. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 218,000 payments delivered in Newport East through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 14,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £23 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £72 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Newport East with over £3 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Newport East has also received around £9,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.Our Semiconductor Strategy targets UK strengths, including compound semiconductors. As the home of the world's first compound semiconductor cluster, South East Wales, including Newport East, is well placed to benefit from the Semiconductor strategy and the funding announced.In addition, Newport and Monmouthshire, the local authorities for the Newport East constituency, are receiving over £32 million and over £7 million respectively, from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Newport East also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including £1.5 million invested in the Severn Tunnel park and ride facility.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Neath

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister in his Department last made an official visit to Neath constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Neath. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 205,000 payments delivered in Neath through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 10,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £21 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £34 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loansThe UK Government has also supported innovation within Neath with around £66,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. The UK Government has also provided £28 million towards the development of the Global Centre of Rail Excellence, a rail innovation facility which will benefit Neath. £15 million in UK Government funding has also been awarded to a group of universities to establish a research and innovation centre at GCRE.In addition, Neath Port Talbot, the local authority for the Neath constituency, is receiving over £34 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Neath is also receiving over £17 million from the Levelling Up Fund to restore the historic estate in the Vale of Neath. The Neath constituency also benefits from the £235 million Swansea Bay City Deal, including £47.7 million invested in the Supporting Innovation and Low Carbon Growth (SILCG) programme.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Ynys Môn

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Ynys Môn constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Ynys Môn. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 210,000 payments delivered in Ynys Môn through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 9,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £26 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £50 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loansThe UK Government has also supported innovation within Ynys Môn with around £1.2 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Ynys Môn has also received around £73,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities. Ynys Môn will also benefit from the Anglesey Freeport, backed by £26 million from UK Government. The Anglesey Freeport aims to attract £1.4 billion worth of investment in the green energy sector and create at least 3,500 jobs, generating half a billion in additional Gross Value Added by 2030. Our £20 million capital funding package will also support the renovation of the Victorian era breakwater at Port of Holyhead, securing passenger and trade flow through this crucial facility for the next 150 years.In addition, Isle of Anglesey County Council, the local authority for the Ynys Mon constituency, is receiving over £16 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Anglesey is also receiving £17 million from the Levelling Up Fund to regenerate Holyhead town centre. Ynys Mon will also benefit from the £240 million North Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Wrexham

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Wrexham constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Wrexham. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 186,000 payments delivered in Wrexham through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 12,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £21 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £66 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Wrexham with over £1.6 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Wrexham has also received around £177,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Wrexham County Borough Council, the local authority for the Wrexham constituency, is receiving over £22 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Wrexham is also receiving over £13 million from the Levelling Up Fund for the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct & Canal World Heritage Site and Dee Valley AONB. Wrexham will also benefit from the £240 million North Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Vale of Glamorgan

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Vale of Glamorgan constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Vale of Glamorgan. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 277,000 payments delivered in Vale of Glamorgan through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 16,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £33 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £69 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Vale of Glamorgan with around £570,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Vale of Glamorgan will also benefit from UK Government funding to refurbish public tennis courts across the UK.In addition, Vale of Glamorgan Council, the local authority for the Vale of Glamorgan constituency, is receiving over £14 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The Vale of Glamorgan will also benefit from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region, including a £36.4 million investment in a green energy park at the former Aberthaw power station.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Clwyd

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Vale of Clwyd constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Vale of Clwyd. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 200,000 payments delivered in Vale of Clwyd through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 11,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £23 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £62 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Vale of Clwyd with around £100,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Vale of Clwyd has also received over £25,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Denbighshire, the local authority for the Vale of Clwyd constituency, is receiving over £25 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The Vale of Clwyd is also benefitting from over £300,000 for two Community Ownership Fund projects. Vale of Clwyd will also benefit from the £240 million North Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Torfaen

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Torfaen constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Torfaen. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 223,000 payments delivered in Torfaen through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 13,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £24 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £45 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans. The UK Government has also supported innovation within Torfaen with around £8.4 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019.In addition, Torfaen County Borough Council, the local authority for the Torfaen constituency, is receiving over £24 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Torfaen is also receiving over £7 million from the Levelling Up Fund to deliver a cultural hub in Pontypool. Torfaen also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including £1.5 million invested in the Pontypool and New Inn park and ride facility.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Cardiff North

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister in his Department last made an official visit to Cardiff North constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Cardiff North. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 230,000 payments delivered in Cardiff North through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 12,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £27 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £70 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans. The UK Government has also supported innovation within Cardiff North with over £20.5 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019.Our Semiconductor Strategy targets UK strengths, including compound semiconductors. As the home of the world's first compound semiconductor cluster, South East Wales, including Cardiff North, is well placed to benefit from the Semiconductor strategy and the funding announced.In addition, Cardiff City Council, the local authority for the Cardiff North constituency, is receiving over £41 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Cardiff North also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including the £50 million region-wide innovation investment fund.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Cardiff Central

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister in his Department last made an official visit to Cardiff Central constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Cardiff Central. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 218,000 payments delivered in Cardiff Central through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 14,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £22 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £102 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans. The UK Government has also provided a £22.2 million boost for the media cymru project in Cardiff Central - creating 2,000 new jobs and adding £236 million to the Welsh economy.In addition, Cardiff City Council, the local authority for the Cardiff Central constituency, is receiving over £41 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Cardiff is also receiving £50 million from the Levelling Up Fund for Cardiff Crossrail which will deliver a new rail line between Cardiff Bay and Cardiff Central Station. Cardiff Central also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including a £3 million investment in the Cyber Innovation Hub at Cardiff University.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Caerphilly

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister in his Department last made an official visit to Caerphilly constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Caerphilly. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 229,000 payments delivered in Caerphilly through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 13,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £26 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £47 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans. The UK Government has also supported innovation within Caerphilly with around £2.8 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019.In addition, Caerphilly County Borough Council, the local authority for the Caerphilly constituency, is receiving over £34 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Caerphilly is also receiving £20 million from the Levelling Up Fund for a new, state of the art wellbeing centre. Caerphilly also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including £1.5 million for the Caerphilly transport interchange.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Bridgend

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister in his Department last made an official visit to Bridgend constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Bridgend. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 225,000 payments delivered in Bridgend through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 14,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £24 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £63 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Bridgend with around £1.5 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Bridgend has also received around £6,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Bridgend County Borough Council, the local authority for the Bridgend constituency, is receiving over £23 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Bridgend is also receiving nearly £18 million from the Levelling Up Fund for a major re-development of the Grand Pavilion in Porthcawl. Bridgend also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including the £50 million region-wide sites and premises fund.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Brecon and Radnorshire

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last undertook an official visit to Brecon and Radnorshire constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Brecon and Radnorshire. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 199,000 payments delivered in Brecon and Radnorshire through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 9,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £41 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £65 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Brecon and Radnorshire with over £1.1 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. It has also provided £28 million towards the development of the Global Centre of Rail Excellence, a rail innovation facility which will benefit the south of the constituency. Brecon and Radnorshire has also received over £225,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Powys, the local authority for the Brecon and Radnorshire constituency, is receiving over £27 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Powys is also receiving almost £7 million from the Levelling Up Fund to deliver the Brecon and Radnorshire Strategic Town Centre Investment package. This is in addition to the £240,000 awarded to the Radnor Arms Hotel through the Community Ownership Fund. Brecon and Radnorshire will also benefit from the £110 million Mid Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Monmouth

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last visited Monmouth constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Monmouth. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 235,000 payments delivered in Monmouth through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 12,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £33 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £80 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loansThe UK Government has also supported innovation within Monmouth with around £4.8 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Monmouth has also received around £107,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Monmouthshire, the local authority for the Monmouth constituency, is receiving over £7 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Monmouth also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including a £2 million investment in Creo Medical in Chepstow.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Montgomeryshire

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last visited Montgomeryshire constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Montgomeryshire. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 171,000 payments delivered in Montgomeryshire through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 11,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £37 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £70 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Montgomeryshire with around £450,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Montgomeryshire has also received over £89,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Powys, the local authority for the Montgomeryshire constituency, is receiving over £27 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Powys is also receiving over £13 million from the Levelling Up Fund to restore the Montgomery Canal. Montgomery will also benefit from the £110 million Mid Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last visited Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 205,000 payments delivered in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 11,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £25 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £37 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney with around £100,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney has also received over £26,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Merthyr Tydfil and Caerphilly, the local authorities for the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency, are receiving over £27 million and over £34 million respectively, from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The constituency also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including the £31 million region-wide housing viability gap fund.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Llanelli

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last visited Llanelli constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Llanelli. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 229,000 payments delivered in Llanelli through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 13,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £21 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £54 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans. The UK Government has also supported innovation within Llanelli with over £700,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019.In addition, Carmarthenshire, the local authority for the Llanelli constituency, is receiving over £38 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Llanelli also benefits from the £235 million Swansea Bay City Deal, including the £40 million investment in the Pentre Awel wellness and research hub.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Islwyn

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last visited Islwyn constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Islwyn. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 200,000 payments delivered in Islwyn through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 11,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £21 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £47 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans. The UK Government has also supported innovation within Islwyn with over £390,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019.In addition, Caerphilly County Borough Council, the local authority for the Islwyn constituency, is receiving over £34 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Caerphilly also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including the £50 million region-wide sites and premises fund.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Dwyfor Meirionnydd

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last visited Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Dwyfor Meirionnydd. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 203,000 payments delivered in Dwyfor Meirionnydd through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 11,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £34 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £62 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Dwyfor Meirionnydd with over £680,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Dwyfor Meirionnydd has also received over £23,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Gwynedd, the local authority for the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency, is receiving over £24 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Gwynedd is also receiving over £18 million from the Levelling Up Fund for the LLewyrch o’r LLechi project which includes upgrades to walking and cycling routes for the National Slate Museum. Dwyfor Meirionnydd will also benefit from the £240 million North Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Delyn

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last visited Delyn constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Delyn. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 188,000 payments delivered in Delyn through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 13,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £23 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £52 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Delyn with over £415,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Delyn has also received over £53,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Flintshire, the local authority for the Delyn constituency, is receiving over £13 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Delyn will also benefit from the £240 million North Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Cynon Valley

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last visited Cynon Valley constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Cynon Valley. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 197,000 payments delivered in Cynon Valley through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 11,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £26 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £30 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans. The UK Government has also supported innovation within Cynon Valley with over £810,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019.In addition, Rhondda Cynon Taf, the local authority for the Cynon Valley constituency, is receiving over £45 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This is in addition to the £124,000 awarded to the CANA Resource and Training Centre in Penywaun. Cynon Valley also benefits from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including the £4.4 million Zip World facility near Hirwaun.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Clwyd West

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Clwyd West constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Clwyd West. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 208,000 payments delivered in Clwyd West through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 11,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £31 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £63 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Clwyd West with over £900,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Clwyd West has also received around £193,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Conwy and Denbighshire, the local authorities for the Clwyd West constituency, are receiving over £24 million and over £25 million respectively, from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Denbighshire is also receiving almost £11 million from the Levelling Up Fund to regenerate the historic fabric of the Ruthin area. Clwyd West will also benefit from the £240 million North Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Clwyd South

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, on what date a Minister from his Department last undertook an official visit to Clwyd South constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Clwyd South. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 189,000 payments delivered in Clwyd South through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 12,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £27 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £41 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Clwyd South with over £1 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Clwyd South has also received around £78,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilitiesIn addition, Wrexham and Denbighshire, the local authorities for the Clwyd South constituency, are receiving over £22 million and over £25 million respectively, from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Wrexham is also receiving over £13 million from the Levelling Up Fund for the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct & Canal World Heritage Site and Dee Valley AONB. Clwyd South will also benefit from the £240 million North Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Swansea West

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Swansea West constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Swansea West. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 218,000 payments delivered in Swansea West through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 11,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £18 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £63 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Swansea West with over £34 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Swansea West has also received over £25,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Swansea Council, the local authority for the Swansea West constituency, is receiving over £41 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Swansea is also receiving over £20 million from the Levelling Up Fund for the Copperworks site and Swansea Museum. Swansea West also benefits from the £235 million Swansea Bay City Deal, including investment in the Swansea Arena and 71-72 Kingsway projects.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Swansea East

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Swansea East constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Swansea East. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 226,000 payments delivered in Swansea East through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 13,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £19 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £60 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans. The UK Government has also supported innovation within Swansea East with around £2.5 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019.In addition, Swansea Council, the local authority for the Swansea East constituency, is receiving over £41 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Swansea is also receiving over £20 million from the Levelling Up Fund for the Copperworks site and Swansea Museum. This is in addition to the £250,000 awarded to the Tabernacle Morriston Community Resilience Hub through the Community Ownership Fund. Swansea East also benefits from the £235 million Swansea Bay City Deal, including the £50 million innovation matrix and precinct project which supporting start-up business to work closely with academia.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Rhondda

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Rhondda constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Rhondda. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 197,000 payments delivered in Rhondda through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 11,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £27 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £23 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loansThe UK Government has also supported innovation within Rhondda with over £33,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Rhondda has also received over £531,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Rhondda Cynon Taf, the local authority for the Rhondda constituency, is receiving over £45 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Rhondda Cynon Taf is also receiving over £3 million from the Levelling Up Fund for a new transport hub in Porth. Rhondda is also benefitting from £500,000 for two Community Ownership Fund projects, and from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal. This includes the £31 million region-wide housing viability gap fund.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Preseli Pembrokeshire

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Preseli Pembrokeshire constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Preseli Pembrokeshire. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 226,000 payments delivered in Preseli Pembrokeshire through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 11,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £32 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £66 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Preseli Pembrokeshire with around £1.7 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Preseli Pembrokeshire has also received over £26,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities. In addition, Preseli Pembrokeshire will benefit from the Celtic Freeport, backed by £26 million from UK Government. The Celtic Freeport aims to attract significant inward investment including £3.5 billion in green energy as well as the creation of 16,000 jobs, generating £900 million in Gross Value Added by 2030.Alongside our March publication of Powering Up Britain, we have released the first tranche of the £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund including support for the Trecwn Green Hydrogen Valley Project in Preseli Pembrokeshire. Additionally, funding from the UK Seafood Fund will boost the capability of fishers at Milford Haven to sustainably land, process and add value to produce for local, regional and international markets.Pembrokeshire, the local authority for the Preseli Pembrokeshire constituency, is receiving over £23 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Pembrokeshire is also receiving over £17 million from the Levelling Up Fund for the regeneration of Haverfordwest. Preseli Pembrokeshire is also benefitting from over £900,000 for four Community Ownership Fund projects. The constituency also benefits from the £235 million Swansea Bay City Deal, including the £25 million region-wide digital infrastructure programme.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Gower

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Gower constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Gower. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 221,000 payments delivered in Gower through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 11,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £23 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £59 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loansThe UK Government has also supported innovation within Gower with around £100,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Gower has also received around £350,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Swansea, the local authority for the Gower constituency, is receiving over £41 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Gower also benefits from the £235 million Swansea Bay City Deal, including the £10 million region-wide skills and talent programme.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Blaenau Gwent

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Blaenau Gwent constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Blaenau Gwent. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 194,000 payments delivered in Blaenau Gwent through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 10,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £19 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £34 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Blaenau Gwent with around £680,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Blaenau Gwent has also received around £48,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities. Blaenau Gwent will also benefit from UK Government funding to refurbish public tennis courts across the UK.Our Semiconductor Strategy targets UK strengths, including compound semiconductors. As the home of the world's first compound semiconductor cluster, South East Wales, including Blaenau Gwent, is well placed to benefit from the Semiconductor strategy and the funding announced.In addition, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, the local authority for the Blaenau Gwent constituency, is receiving over £28 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Blaenau Gwent is also receiving over £9 million from the Levelling Up Fund for a new High Value Engineering (HiVE) training and education facility based in Ebbw Vale. This is in addition to the £90,000 awarded to the Queen’s Ballroom in Tredegar through the Community Ownership Fund. Blaenau Gwent is also benefitting from the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, including a £2 million investment in Apex Manufacturing and a £1.7 million investment in Pulse Plastics.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Arfon

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Arfon constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Arfon. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 157,000 payments delivered in Arfon through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 9,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £22 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £36 million was given to businesses through government backed business loansThe UK Government has also supported innovation within Arfon with over £10 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Arfon has also received over £70,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Gwynedd, the local authority for the Arfon constituency, is receiving over £24 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Gwynedd is also receiving over £18 million from the Levelling Up Fund for the LLewyrch o’r LLechi project which includes upgrades to walking and cycling routes for the National Slate Museum. This is in addition to the £250,000 awarded to the Tyn Llan Pub in Llandwrog through the Community Ownership Fund. Arfon is also benefitting from the £240 million North Wales Growth Deal, including a £3 million investment in the Digital Signalling Processing Centre at Bangor University.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Alyn and Deeside

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Alyn and Deeside constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Alyn and Deeside. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 220,000 payments delivered in Alyn and Deeside through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 17,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £24 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £74 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Alyn and Deeside with over £28 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Alyn and Deeside has also received over £51,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.The Chancellor announced at Autumn Statement that we will provide up to £10 million of support for the Advanced Technology Research Centre (ATRC), subject to a business case, to deliver a defence-focused Centre of Excellence site in Alyn and Deeside collaboratively with the Welsh Government. In addition, Flintshire, the local authority for the Alyn and Deeside constituency, is receiving over £13 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Alyn and Deeside will also benefit from the £240 million North Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Aberconwy

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Aberconwy constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Aberconwy. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes over 170,000 payments delivered in Aberconwy through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic over 10,000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, over £24 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and around £49 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loansThe UK Government has also supported innovation within Aberconwy with around £100,000 awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Aberconwy has also received over £5,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities.In addition, Conwy, the local authority for the Aberconwy constituency, is receiving over £24 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Conwy is also receiving over £18 million from the Levelling Up Fund to improve transport connections in the Conwy Valley. Aberconwy will also benefit from the £240 million North Wales Growth Deal.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Domestic Visits: Aberavon

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Aberavon constituency.

David T C Davies: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I both live in Wales and serve Welsh constituencies. We have a consistent presence in Wales as we conduct many visits, events and meetings in Wales on a regular basis.Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office priorities are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Aberavon. A typical household in Wales has received almost £2000 in UK Government support to help with the cost of living. This includes around 186,000 payments delivered in Aberavon through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. During the Covid-19 pandemic around 9000 jobs were supported through the furlough scheme, around £15 million was claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and over £39 million was given to businesses through government-backed business loans.The UK Government has also supported innovation within Aberavon with around £10 million awarded by Innovate UK since April 2019. Aberavon has also received over £34,000 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to level up local sports facilities. In addition, Aberavon will benefit from the Celtic Freeport, backed by £26 million from UK Government. The Celtic Freeport aims to attract significant inward investment, including £3.5 billion in green energy as well as the creation of 16,000 jobs, generating £900 million in Gross Value Added by 2030.In addition, Neath Port Talbot, the local authority for the Aberavon constituency, is receiving over £34 million from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Aberavon is also benefitting from the £235 million Swansea Bay City Deal including the newly opened £8 million Baglan Bay Technology Centre and the South Wales Industrial Transition from Carbon Hub (SWITCH) facility.This Government is investing in Wales like never before; over £790 million in four City and Regional Growth Deals covering the whole of Wales, £585 million for local authorities to invest through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including over £100 million for the Multiply adult numeracy programme, £330 million in capital investment through the Levelling Up Fund and £3.2 million to preserve community assets through the Community Ownership Fund. Wales will benefit from two Freeports backed by £52 million, the British Business Bank’s new £130m Regional Investment Fund, and from Project Gigabit which will enable hard to reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit capable broadband.

Wales Office: Psilocybin

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in the Welsh Government on support for (a) businesses and (b) universities for research into psilocybin.

David T C Davies: I routinely meet with Welsh Government Ministers to discuss a variety of issues. In addition, my officials regularly engage with Welsh Government officials regarding R&D support for Welsh businesses and universities, including health-based R&D. The UK Government is investing £39.8 billion on R&D between 2022 and 2025, the largest amount ever. This will contribute to the Prime Minister’s ambition to cement the UK as a science and technology superpower by 2030, in which businesses and universities in Wales will play a key role. I have recently visited all of the universities in Wales and I have also visited many businesses within the Welsh Life Sciences and MedTech sectors. I have greatly appreciated seeing the innovative technologies that are contributing to the Welsh R&D landscape because of excellent research and collaboration between academia and industry.

Wales Office: Members

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member of each political party was not agreed to by (a) a Minister in his Office directly and (b) his Office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

David T C Davies: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, whilst balancing wider Ministerial and Parliamentary responsibilities.

Wales Office: Disclosure of Information

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he is taking steps to ensure that staff in his Department who are under investigation for alleged misconduct are not named before those allegations are proven.

David T C Davies: My Department follows Ministry of Justice and Civil Service-wide HR policy when investigating allegations of misconduct. These policies make it clear that disciplinary matters, including for alleged misconduct, are strictly confidential. Confidentiality also applies once the process has concluded.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Africa Climate Summit

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to attend the African Climate Action Summit.

Andrew Bowie: The UK is committed to working with African partners to drive long-term climate action and the UK Government will be represented at the African Climate Action Summit in September.

National Grid: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Department for Infrastructure Northern Ireland on grid infrastructure.

Andrew Bowie: While energy policy is devolved in Northern Ireland, the department for Energy Security and Net Zero regularly meets with the Department for Infrastructure Northern Ireland to discuss grid infrastructure and other issues, including through the bi-monthly Net Zero and Climate Change Interministerial Group.

Boilers and Heat Pumps: Social Rented Housing

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many (a) heat pumps and (b) biomass boilers have been installed in social housing under the boiler upgrade scheme since the end of the domestic renewable heat incentive.

Graham Stuart: Support to upgrade the energy performance of social homes is provided through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, Energy Company Obligation, Local Authority Delivery and Home Upgrade Grant. There have been no installations of heat pumps or biomass boilers in social housing under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme as these properties are not eligible.

Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to (a) the public purse and (b) businesses and individuals to reach net zero in cash terms for each year from 2023 to 2050.

Graham Stuart: The distribution of the costs and benefits of the transition to net zero will depend on future policy decision. The UK's approach demonstrates that ‘green’ and ‘growth’ go hand in hand. The transition will help shield households and business from the destabilising effects of volatile fossil fuel markets and will provide huge opportunities for jobs, investment, innovation and exports. Energy saving schemes have also been targeted towards vulnerable households and steps have been taken to protect exposed industries. The OBR has also set out that while unmitigated climate change would spell disaster, the net fiscal costs of moving to net zero by 2050 could be comparatively modest.

Insulation: Housing

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent progress his Department has made on increasing the rate of (a) loft and (b) cavity wall insulations.

Graham Stuart: The Government is investing £6.6 billion over this Parliament on clean heat and improving energy efficiency in buildings. An additional £6 billion of new funding will be made available from 2025 to 2028. The recently announced Great British Insulation Scheme aims to upgrade up to 300,000 of the country’s least energy efficient homes as part of a £1 billion energy efficiency programme by March 2026.

Energy: Housing

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of offering free energy audits to all households.

Graham Stuart: We have no current plans to do so.

National Grid

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his department is taking to increase grid capacity (a) nationwide and (b) in North Shropshire constituency.

Andrew Bowie: The Government is committed to expanding electricity network capacity to accommodate new clean sources of electricity generation and demand, as set out jointly with Ofgem in the Electricity Networks Strategic Framework. Across Great Britain, Ofgem has already accelerated £20bn of strategic transmission projects to support the government’s 2030 renewables ambition and has allowed £22.2bn for local distribution networks to expand capacity ready for low-carbon technology growth. The government does not hold data by constituency but Scottish Power Energy Networks, the Distribution Network Operator that covers North Shropshire, has been allowed nearly £3bn to maintain and upgrade its areas between 2023-28.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Graham Stuart: Details of meeting requests are not held centrally by the Department.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Israel and Palestinians

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many times he has held discussions with his counterparts in (a) Israel and (b) Palestine in 2023.

David Rutley: The Foreign Secretary has spoken with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen four times this year, one of which was in person, three of which were phone calls. With regards to the Palestinian Authority, this year the Foreign Secretary has had one phone call with Foreign Minister Riad Malki, and two phone calls with Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, also met with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki, and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh during his visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) in January 2023. Lord Ahmad has also had several meetings this year with Palestinian head of mission Dr Husam Zomlot and Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely in London. Finally, FCDO diplomats and development experts in the UK, Israel and the OPTs meet regularly with both Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss UK foreign and development policy issues.

Israel: Palestinians

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the violence in Israel and Palestine.

David Rutley: The security situation in the West Bank is deteriorating and further escalation must be avoided. The UK unequivocally condemns terror attacks against civilians. Every Israeli and Palestinian has the right to live in peace and security. On 5 July, the Foreign Secretary discussed recent violence and attacks against civilians in calls with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh. We call on the Palestinian Authority and Government of Israel to cooperate in securing the safety and protection of civilians across the West Bank.

West Bank: Violence

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of changes in the level of violence against civilians in the occupied West Bank since January 2023.

David Rutley: The security situation in the West Bank is deteriorating and further escalation must be avoided. The UK unequivocally condemns terror attacks against civilians. Every Israeli and Palestinian has the right to live in peace and security. On 5 July, the Foreign Secretary discussed recent violence and attacks against civilians in calls with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh. We call on the Palestinian Authority and Government of Israel to cooperate in securing the safety and protection of civilians across the West Bank.

Palestinians: Schools

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with his counterpart in Israel on (a) recent and (b) potential future demolitions of Palestinian schools in the occupied territories that are (i) funded and (ii) co-funded by the UK overseas development assistance budget.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much overseas development assistance funding has been spent on Palestinian schools in the occupied territories which have been (a) demolished and (b) threatened with demolition by Israeli authorities in the last five years .

David Rutley: As I [Minister of State for the Americas and the Caribbean] said in the House of Commons on 18 July, the UK is clear that in all but the most exceptional of circumstances, demolitions and evictions are contrary to international humanitarian law. Our opposition to the demolition of Palestinian property is long-standing. The practice causes unnecessary suffering and is harmful to efforts to promote peace. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation. On 7 May, The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon wrote to the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, to express the government's opposition to the demolition of Jubbet Adh Dhib school. Lord Ahmad has also visited a school under threat of demolition in Masafer Yatta during his visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) in January.The FCDO aid budget is allocated in accordance with UK strategic priorities against a challenging financial climate. It is not possible to calculate the exact figure for UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding spent on schools in the OPTs that have been demolished (or are at risk of demolition) because ODA funding for this area goes into a multilateral pooled fund. However, there is a robust framework in place for allocating ODA. Data on ODA spend in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is available on DevTracker (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/countries/PS).

Alaa Abdel Fattah

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he last discussed the case of Alaa Abdel Fattah with his Egyptian counterpart.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his polices of the imprisonment of Alaa Abdel Fattah by Egyptian authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his polices of the denial of UK consular access to Alaa Abdel Fattah by the Egyptian government; and if he will make a statement.

David Rutley: The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry, most recently on 2 March. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has raised the case several times with the Egyptian Ambassador, most recently on 10 July and also raised it with Foreign Minister Shoukry during his visit to Cairo on 4 April. The Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, raised the case with the Egyptian authorities on 25 May during his visit to Cairo.The Government continues to make every effort in our engagement with the Egyptian authorities on the case. We remain focussed on Mr El-Fattah's welfare and pressing for consular access and his release. We continue to provide consular support to Mr El-Fattah and his family, who Lord Ahmad most recently met on 6 July.

Israeli Settlements

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with his counterpart in Israel on the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

David Rutley: The UK's position on settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace, threaten the physical viability of a two-state solution and call into question Israel's commitment to a two-state solution. We urge Israel to halt settlement expansion immediately and we continue to monitor the changes to the settlement approval process instituted by the government of Israel on June 18, which facilitate swifter approval of construction in settlements. The Foreign Secretary reaffirmed this position in his 30 June statement along with his Australian and Canadian counterparts, and to Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen directly in their 5 July phone call. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon also frequently raises this issue with the Israeli ambassador to the UK.

Russia: South Africa

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the strength of the diplomatic relationship between South Africa and Russia.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is working with the UN and partners across Africa to protect the UN charter and insist on the end of Russia's illegal invasion. On 1 June the Foreign Secretary spoke with South Africa's Foreign Minister to discuss South Africa's stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We understand South Africa's long-held non-alignment policy and we encourage South Africa to follow its own principles and use their available channels, including the African Peace Initiative, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and their G20 Presidency preparations, to urge Russia to end its unprovoked and illegal invasion and create room for diplomacy.

Women: Oppression

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle the oppression of women in (a) Iran, (b) Afghanistan and (c) other countries; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of working with his international counterparts to make such oppression a crime under international criminal law.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is committed to supporting women in Iran by ensuring the Iranian regime is held to account. We do this in part through our sanctions. HMG has announced nine rounds of Iran human rights sanctions since October 2022. We also work closely with our international partners including to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2022. We raise human rights directly with the Iranian authorities at all appropriate opportunities, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.In Afghanistan, the Government has repeatedly condemned the Taliban's decisions to restrict the rights of women and girls including through the UN Security Council, Human Rights Council resolutions and public statements. We continue to support the delivery of education, through bilateral and multilateral contributions.More broadly, we are committed to strengthening the international architecture on accountability for gender-based crimes including by supporting a new convention on crimes against humanity through the UN, as announced by the Foreign Secretary in November 2022.

Darfur: Humanitarian Situation

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking in response to the humanitarian situation in Elgeneina, West Darfur in Sudan.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK strongly condemns the deliberate attacks and human rights abuses against civilians in West Darfur, Sudan. We are pursuing all diplomatic avenues, including through the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council and cooperation with counterparts from Africa, the Quad (KSA, UAE, UK, US) and European countries to end the violence, secure safe humanitarian access, and hold those responsible accountable. We welcome the International Criminal Court Prosecutor's decision to commence investigations into the surging violence and offences that are being committed in Darfur. We are providing £21.7 million in humanitarian aid for people in need in Sudan, and a further £5 million to help meet the urgent needs of refugees and returnees in South Sudan and Chad. UK funded support will be delivered through the UN and other trusted partners and will provide assistance such as safe drinking water, food, medical care and shelter to people in need, as well as supporting Gender Based Violence protection services.

Uganda: LGBT+ People

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help protect the safety of LGBT+ human rights activists in Uganda.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government strongly condemns the Government of Uganda's decision to sign the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 into law. To underline the strength of our opposition to the Act and highlight its impacts on the safety of LGBT+ people in Uganda, the Prime Minister has raised it with the Ugandan Foreign Minister, the Foreign Secretary with the Ugandan High Commissioner, and I have raised it with both. The British High Commission in Uganda remains engaged with the LGBT+ community and human rights defenders to understand the impact of the Act on the safety of LGBT+ people and support their efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable communities.

British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies: Companies

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support financial centres in the (a) British Overseas Territories and (b) Crown Dependencies introducing public beneficial ownership registers.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress his Department has made on the introduction of a public beneficial ownership register in the (a) Cayman Islands and (b) British Virgin Islands.

David Rutley: The UK Government is committed to supporting the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to deliver commitments to implement publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership. Our recent support includes: working with smaller Overseas Territories to update their systems to enable public access; purchasing a new company register for Anguilla, which will allow for public access; and funding Open Ownership, a specialist NGO, to provide technical assistance to each Overseas Territory.

Government Hospitality: Wines

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 January to Question 111547, when he plans to publish the bi-annual report on the Government Wine Cellar for 2020-22.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Bi-Annual Report on the Government Hospitality Wine Cellar for 2020-2022 will be published in the autumn. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House when the Written Ministerial Statement has been released.

Somalia: Peace Negotiations

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to help promote peace and stability in Somalia.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is partnering with Somalia on its priorities of countering al-Shabaab and political reform, to build a more peaceful and stable country. In financial year 2022/23, the UK contributed £22.5 million to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia and £8 million to the United Nations Support Office, which provide vital support to the Somali security forces in the fight against al-Shabaab. We continue to call for de-escalation of fighting in the town of Las Anod, including through a 7 June UN Security Council press statement. As Somalia's Debt Relief Champion, we have helped reduce the country's indebtedness and strengthen economic stability.

Department for Business and Trade

Technology: Israel

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an assessment for the implications of her policies of Tel Aviv’s recent rating as the second-best cleantech ecosystem; and if her Department will hold discussions with Israeli businesses on the steps being taken to develop cleaner and safer technologies.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department for Business and Trade works closely with the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, who recognise the importance of the CleanTech sector in Israel and its success and innovation in developing new technologies, along with the value that this can bring to the UK economy. The Embassy both prioritises this sector and assists Israeli companies who wish to invest and expand into the UK. It also supports UK corporates who are looking for solutions that Israeli start-ups can provide in this sector.

Ministry of Defence

Global Response Force: Deployment

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, published on 18 July 2023, CP 901, when he expects the Global Response Force to be deployable.

James Heappey: As set out in the Defence Command Paper Refresh, the Global Response Force (GRF) will bring together our deployed and high-readiness forces, and draw on capabilities from across Defence in all domains.Looking ahead, the intention is for the GRF to be a scalable framework of high readiness forces. The Ministry of Defence retains significant force elements at readiness and, subject to the nature of the issue, can deploy forces under a GRF mandate, in accordance with their readiness profiles, now.

Ministry of Defence: Aviation

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to sub-target two of the Greening Government Commitments reporting requirements for 2021 to 2025 last updated on 15 December 2022, whether his Department follows the encouragement in that guidance to (a) monitor and (b) report on the number of domestic flights for which her Department is responsible each year; and how many domestic flights were taken by Ministers in his Department in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.

James Cartlidge: In support of the Greening Government Commitments (GGC), Defence's domestic business flights are recorded and associated annual carbon emissions reported in the Department's Annual Report and Accounts.For 2021, our records show there was a total of  36 domestic flights recorded as being used by Ministers e.g. Commercial flights, RAF planes and RAF helicopters. For 2022, our records show there were a total of 41 domestic flights.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Dahua Technology and Hikvision

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.

George Freeman: As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not Government policy to comment on the government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds. Each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions. However, I would refer the Hon. member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 24 November 2022, which set out that Departments had been instructed to disconnect surveillance equipment from core departmental networks where it is subject to the National Intelligence Law of China.

Department for Transport

Shipping: Carbon Emissions

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken withCabinet colleagues to support themaritime sector's transition to net zero emissions.

Mr Richard Holden: The government continues to deliver on commitments made in the 2021 Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP). In July, we confirmed that the UK Emissions Trading Scheme would be extended to include domestic maritime emissions, beginning in 2026 and published the summary of responses to the domestic maritime course to zero consultation. The fourth round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition was launched on 7th July, bringing the total invested through the CMDC to £129 million, part of the £206 million UK SHORE R&D investment to support maritime decarbonisation. Internationally the United Kingdom has worked ambitiously with the International Maritime Organization to reach a unanimous agreement at landmark negotiations in July, for net zero emissions by around 2050 that puts the Paris Agreement 1.5C temperature goal within reach. The department intends to publish a refresh of the Clean Maritime Plan (CMP) by the end of 2023. It will build on the achievements of the 2019 CMP and TDP to deliver an ambitious, action focused plan to accelerate maritime decarbonization in the UK.

Motor Vehicles: Pollution Control

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of (a) the prevalence of brake dust pollution in the UK in the last 12 months and (b) the potential merits of requiring the hard coating of brake discs to reduce that pollution; and if he will have discussions with businesses on the development of (i) laser metal deposition hard coating for brake discs and (ii) other technologies to tackle dust pollution.

Jesse Norman: Pollutant emissions from road transport are not measured directly but can be modelled using estimates of emissions factors. The UK National Atmospheric Emission Inventory (NAEI) – compiled by the National Environmental Technology Centre on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – reports data on the prevalence of brake dust pollution from UK road transport. The latest data available is for 2020 and is available online on the NAEI website. The Department for Transport commissioned a 4-year research project in February 2021 aimed at understanding better the measurement techniques, material properties and control parameters of brake (and tyre) wear emissions from road vehicles. This work will also consider technologies aimed at reducing particle emissions from road vehicles (including brake wear).

Roads: Litter

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has held with National Highways on removal of litter from the side of roads for which it has responsibility.

Mr Richard Holden: I meet with National Highways on monthly basis to discuss their performance and management of the strategic road network. This includes discussions on National Highways’ litter performance and their responsibilities for clearance on the network.

Railways: Midlands

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) projected end date is, (b) forecast spend in the financial year 2023-24 is, (c) initial planned whole life costs were and (d) delivery confidence assessment is of the Midlands Rail Hub programme; and when each of those figures were last reviewed.

Huw Merriman: The Midlands Rail Hub is projected to enter service in the early 2030s, and the forecast spend in 2023/24 is £7.98m. Initial planned whole life costs (at the time of the 2019 Strategic Outline Business Case) were £1,544m. The Delivery Confidence Assessment remains Amber, as set out in the Infrastructure and Projects Authority Annual Report. This detail is reviewed quarterly in line with the requirements of the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio.

Trains: WiFi

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of WiFi on passenger trains.

Huw Merriman: The Department previously commissioned Transport Focus' 'Keeping connected: passengers’ experience of internet connectivity on Great Britain’s railways' report, published on 24 July 2020, assessing on-train wifi and mobile operator connectivity.Today the on-train wifi equipment, and hence the passenger experience, depends on the availability of adequate mobile signals.We are working with Network Rail, to repeat the measurements of mobile operator signals across the rail network, previously published by Ofcom in 2019.The Department aims to publish this data in late 2024.The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology in their Wireless Infrastructure Strategy has also asked Ofcom to increase their reporting of coverage on the rail network with an objective of reporting this annually and presenting this "in a way that provides meaningful information to consumers."

Railways: Tickets

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department reviewed international comparisons when assessing the potential impact of closing railway station ticket offices.

Huw Merriman: As this is an industry-led process, and it would be for individual operators to undertake the relevant analysis as part of overall assessments.

Great British Railways

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by which date he expects a site for the Great British Railway headquarters to be identified.

Huw Merriman: The Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) is working closely with Derby City Council to identify a suitable site. This collaboration has been underway since Derby was selected as the location for the headquarters of GBR and the site will be confirmed in due course.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish his correspondence with the (a) Chair of the Rail Delivery Group and (b) chief executive officers of train operating companies which have passenger service contracts with his Department on the proposals to close ticket offices.

Huw Merriman: There are no current plans for any general publication of this correspondence.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer to Question 193004 on Railways: Tickets, whether he instructed Train Operating Companies to consult on ticket closures; and whether Train Operating Companies are able to consult on closing ticket offices without seeking Ministerial approval under passenger service agreements in place.

Huw Merriman: There are agreements between the Department and train operators on different areas to ensure that services can be delivered in a safe, secure and efficient way for the benefit of customers and the taxpayer. It is for industry to bring forward proposals as to how to deliver that.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2023 to Question 193235 on Railways: Tickets, by what means he was first made aware of proposals to close a majority of staffed railway ticket offices in England.

Huw Merriman: Ministers regularly hold meetings with stakeholders, including the Rail Delivery Group and train operating companies, on challenges to the rail network. This includes discussions on modernising and improving the customer experience.

Railways: Tickets

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the demographic spread of people who use railway ticket offices.

Huw Merriman: When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider other equality related needs and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups. Together with the rail industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes, and train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

Department for Transport: Aviation

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to sub-target two of the Greening Government Commitments reporting requirements for 2021 to 2025 last updated on 15 December 2022, whether his Department follows the encouragement in that guidance to (a) monitor and (b) report on the number of domestic flights for which her Department is responsible each year; and how many domestic flights were taken by Ministers in his Department in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport is COVERED BY the Government Greening Commitments and reports its performance against the targets quarterly to DEFRA. Department for Transport policy supports the limited use of domestic air travel. The 2022-23 accounts published on Thursday 20 July 2023 outline the latest data on actual emissions concerning domestic flights undertaken by DfT officials and report a 55% reduction on 2017-18. Ministers took 3 domestic flights in 2021 and 3 flights in 2022.

Cycling and Walking

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) encourage active travel and (b) increase safety for (i) cyclists and (ii) pedestrians in cities.

Jesse Norman: This Government has done more than any other to support active travel, and over the course of this Parliament it will be investing around £3 billion to boost walking, cycling and wheeling across England. Active Travel England is working with local authorities to ensure that this funding delivers safe and high-quality infrastructure. This, coupled with other initiatives including the recent changes to The Highway Code, will make the roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

Cycling and Walking

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to funding levels for cycling and walking infrastructure on the UK's ability to meet its emissions targets.

Jesse Norman: This Government has done more than any other to support walking and cycling and over the course of this Parliament it will be investing around £3 billion in active travel from a wide range of funding streams. The Government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan sets out the projected emission savings from transport policies. The Department will continue to monitor the contributions made by its investment in active travel. As captured in the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, the carbon savings from active travel make up a relatively small percentage of the total projected carbon savings. The impact of recent active travel funding changes on the ability of the Government to meet its overall emission targets is therefore likely to be small.

Cycling and Walking

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to funding levels for cycling and walking infrastructure on local authority plans to create safe spaces for active travel.

Jesse Norman: The Government remains fully committed to the vision that by 2030 half of all journeys in towns and cities are walked or cycled and it will invest over £3 billion in active travel over the course of this Parliament. The £3 billion also includes funding from wider sources such as the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and the Levelling Up Fund. Active Travel England estimates that its dedicated investment programme between 2022/23 and 2024/25 will deliver 90 million additional walking and cycling stages by 2025.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of electric vehicle charging points in the UK.

Jesse Norman: Overall, it is estimated that there are 468, 579 charging devices / sockets as of July 2023. As of 1 July 2023, there were 44,020 public charging devices in the UK, according to data supplied by Zapmap. As of 1 April 2023 (the most recent public data available), there were 339,775 charging devices installed through the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS), 40,333 devices installed through the Domestic Residential Scheme (DRS), 2,347 sockets installed through the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grants scheme (EVCG), and 42,104 sockets installed through the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS).

Department for Transport: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Jesse Norman: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, whilst balancing wider Ministerial and Parliamentary responsibilities.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Mr Steve Baker: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, whilst balancing wider Ministerial and Parliamentary responsibilities.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Museums and Galleries: Restitution

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had discussions with representatives of museums on the potential impact on UK culture of returning artefacts to their country of origin.

Sir John Whittingdale: Museums and galleries in the UK operate independently of HM Government. Decisions relating to the care and management of their collections are a matter for the trustees of each museum, including research into items’ provenance and claims for restitution. Last year, Arts Council England published guidance on the handling of restitution claims and practical advice for museums on this matter.Some national museums are prevented by legislation from deaccessioning objects in their collections unless, broadly, they are duplicates or unfit for retention. The two exceptions to this are when the objects are human remains less than 1,000 years old, and objects spoliated during the Nazi era. The Government has no plans to change these laws.